"No freaking way, you've got the be kidding m—" Vanitas hurriedly clamped his hand over Kairi's mouth to effectively shut her up, his other putting a finger to his lips to shush her. She blinked rapidly at him to express her surprise, since she couldn't do it with her mouth. However, her voice was loud enough to attract some eyes. Glancing to the side, she realized that Roxas and Ventus had already finished talking to each other and that everyone else was just waiting for her and Vanitas to finish their conversation.

"Gosh, you still can't control your voice volume when you get surprised. You're already going to blow it." He let his hand fall from her mouth and stuffed it back into his pocket. "Keep it a secret, alright?" Kairi nodded in a robotic way as she tried to let everything he just told her sink in. Vanitas frowned out of concern when Kairi gave her head a knock with her fist. It was as if she thought hitting her head would miraculously make everything make sense.

"Alright, I will. Thanks for telling me," Kairi said. "Wow." Vanitas sighed as he looked up at the shelves behind her.

"You seem to have really fit here in Twilight Town, haven't you?" he said suddenly out of nowhere. Kairi scratched her cheek embarrassingly before nodding. When she first moved here for college, she didn't expect herself to meet any of these people. She never knew that she would find a circle so early where she knew everyone and felt connected with everyone—something different than high school. Of course, it started off rough—almost everyone started off rough with each other. Sora and her didn't have the best of friendships at the beginning. Sora and Roxas definitely weren't on good terms either, and because of their dispute, Riku and Axel had to struggle between two sides. She would've never thought, along with her sister, that they would all be gathered here today, working together and being on the same team.

Somehow, along her journey, things just mended together.

"We've all had our fair share of bumps in the road," Kairi admitted to Vanitas. He simply shrugged.

"But it worked out, right?"

"Yup." Vanitas gave her a small smile—a rare sight, for he usually just smirked—and took his hand out of his pocket to rub the back of his neck.

"Well, that's good. You're totally different now. I feel like coming here has changed you for the better." Kairi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really now?" Vanitas laughed before nodding.

"I mean, you were cool back in high school too. You had friends, but I don't know. Seeing you here in a different place during another chapter of your life… you seem more… real, I guess?" He rubbed his chin, wondering if that was the right word to describe it before he nodded to affirm himself. "Real. Truer to yourself? I don't know, I never got this stuff anyway so." He started to feel a bit uncomfortable when Kairi suddenly started to check him out from top to bottom. Wondering what she was doing, he was about to ask her before she answered for him.

"You know, do you remember what you said back then?"

"I've said a lot back then. I think you should specify a little bit more." Kairi rolled her eyes before she continued.

"There was this time, where we were both at the beach." Kairi had to double check in her mind that she remembered what he said correctly. "I think you asked me a question… something like how you would live life differently if you had the chance."

"Vanitas thinking, what a nice image. Hey, what do you think about?" Vanitas let out a deep hum from his voice before shrugging.

"Just stuff. Life."

"Life?"

"I don't know. How I would live life differently if I had the chance?" Kairi frowned, not knowing what he was saying at all.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing."

"I kind of recall something like that." She could see through Vanitas; it was more than just a simple recollection. Back then, Kairi was a bit clueless—she never really knew what went on inside Vanitas's head. Now that she looked back on it, she realized that he must've fought with himself a lot. He struggled to shed the exterior and reform the interior, but it must've been hard for him back in high school. Deep inside, Kairi figured that he still did struggle, believing that he hasn't changed much from before; it had only been less than a year, after all.

However, she could see it: the new Vanitas. Of course, he hadn't shed everything off, but he was getting there, one step at a time.

"Just keep at it, you know? You're different too, if you haven't realized that much, Mr. Polite."

"Excuse me?" Kairi snickered. He really didn't seem to be aware at how his speech did a one-eighty. Kairi patted him on the side of his arm.

"You're different, I'm saying. I feel like you, after meeting Ventus, are more 'real' too," she did finger quotes, "I feel like you're truer to yourself too. I mean this is just my guess—it's not like I actually know how your life is now or anything—but I feel like… you're slowly becoming the person you've always kind of wanted to be? But then again, I never got this stuff anyway." She repeated what he had said to her and smiled. "Like I said before during our departure a few months back: keep doing what you want to do. You're going to be okay." Kairi didn't seem to realize how much her words had an effect on him, for he let out a breath and smiled a smile—a real, genuine smile.

"Thanks." Kairi nodded.

"Mhm." He gave her a weird look when she suddenly held her hand up. When she signaled towards it with her eyes, he realized what she wanted him to do before clicking his tongue.

"Tch. How childish." And he held up his own hand and gave her a high-five. "You know what, Kai'?"

"Yeah?"

"What you said before, how things finally worked out between all of you."

"Mhm, what about it?" He grabbed her hand and pulled it down in the form of a handshake. He returned her confused look with a smirk.

Over at the other side of the garage, Riku and Axel continuously hit Sora's back to stifle their sounds, Roxas blinked at the ex's, Namine narrowed her eyes, and Ventus grinned like he always did.

"I'm think our jumbled strands have been mended too, despite all the bumps in our little, yet short road." He shook her hand, which she gladly returned. "I'm glad we were able to be reconnected once more through all these tangles. Good luck with life, Kairi." She laughed.

"You too, Vanitas." When they let go of each other, Vanitas glanced at the side and motioned with his eyebrows towards everyone on the other side of the garage. "I can feel everyone giving me uncomfortable stares, especially your sister and your boyfriend. Let's go back." Kairi stifled the sound of what would've sounded like a squeak as she punched his arm. For some reason, hearing someone else calling Sora her boyfriend made her all giddy. Outside, Vanitas seemed unaffected, but inside, he was crying in pain—this girl needed to learn how strong she actually was.

"Alright, Vanitas, got everything wrapped up?" Ventus cheered as he swung an arm over his friend's shoulders. Vanitas carefully lifted Ventus's arm and put it back to his side, not liking it when the bubbly guy got too close to him—he liked his personal space.

"Yeah, I'm done," Vanitas grumbled. Ventus excitedly waved the Ultima Keyblade around once last time before he gave it to Vanitas to hold. Vanitas's arms almost gave way at how it was unexpectedly heavier than what he thought it would be. One by one, Ventus shook hands with everyone as a farewell. He even promised that he would remember everyone's name, much to Namine's excitement.

"Good luck," Ventus said to Sora as he firmly shook hands with him. Sora gave a small smile in return.

"Good luck to you too." Then Ventus went over to Roxas, who didn't really have a good expression on his face.

"Good luck to you too, dude," Ventus said happily. Roxas forced a weak smile before looking away.

"Hope everything turns out well for you…"

"Of course, my twin." He shot finger guns at everyone childishly before they morphed into peace signs. "Make sure you guys watch me on TV!"

~.~.~

"Oh my gosh, I actually got his autograph! Kairi, this has got to be one of the best days of my life! Ventus Airius, the real deal!" Kairi tried not to plug her ears with her fingers as she pretended to listen to her sister. No, she wasn't being a bad sister; it was just that Namine had been saying this for the nth time for the past hour. "He even told me a broad overview of what sis daily routine was, and wow, he's busy!"

"Hurting a poor boy's heart in the process…" Kairi muttered as a half-joke. The other half wasn't so much of a joke.

"Hm, what did you say, Kairi?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

While everyone waited for Riku to come back from driving Vanitas and Ventus to their hotel—Sora was not going to let his home be unsupervised anymore—Roxas deeply contemplated his thoughts as he sat at the kitchen table.

"So, when are you going to tell me what Ventus said to you?"

"Sora!" Roxas jumped in his seat in surprise when Sora suddenly popped up from behind him. Sora raised a brow, questioning why his cousin was so jumpy.

"What's gotten you all jittery?" Roxas let out a rather awkward and forced laugh, which just irked Sora even more.

"Haven't eaten breakfast or lunch yet, you know. I'm getting the hypoglycemic side effects."

"…Right. So, what happened?" Roxas figured that his cousin wasn't going to drop it, so he just spat out what was at the top of his head.

"He just wanted me to watch over you so that you won't blast a brain from nervousness." When Roxas said that, he chided himself mentally at how stupid that sounded. Of course, his genius cousin wasn't going to fall for tha—

"Oh, that's it? Why am I not surprised—that seems kind of like him to say that." Roxas stared at Sora, unblinking. Holy moogles, he actually bought it. Sora rubbed the back of his head, disappointed that that was all Roxas had to say, before he stalked off towards his fridge to get something to eat. Roxas, tired, put his head onto the table and shut his eyes closed, wondering how everything will turn out.

~.~.~

"Ventus, are you sure this is going to be okay?" Vanitas didn't voice his concern over his friend that much—at least, outwardly—but this time, he felt the need to. As always, Ventus gave him a silly smile and stuck his tongue out as he turned on the TV in the hotel room.

"Of course. I'm Ventus Airius. Who can stop me?"

~.~.~

In that same week, on a Friday, the ceremony of the Keyblade Wars ended while the first round of the Keyblade Wars started. For a change of scenery, everyone invaded Riku's single dorm, much to his reluctance, to watch the TV. Kairi had expected his room to be a second version of Axel's, but she was pleasantly surprised to see his room all neat and tidy. Even his bed was made.

The moment Kairi saw Riku's desk, she zoomed over there and emptied the books out of her backpack. Everyone looked at her curiously besides Roxas, who knew what was coming. Sighing, he shrugged off his own backpack and stole a chair from Riku's common area. Settling it right next to Kairi, he took out his math book and allowed it to fall on the table with a loud thud.

"You guys call us when Ventus comes up or something. This girl wants to study for her finals, since it's in, like—when was it again?"

"Freaking in two days," she groaned as she hit her forehead against her open math textbook. At this, Sora crossed his arms and frowned—he thought he was the one who was going to tutor her. Sensing Sora's questioning aura, Kairi avoided eye contact with him and proceeded to go through Roxas's blessed notes.

Sora could feel himself getting ticked off at Kairi's behavior. They hadn't had much time together, since things have been so busy, but already he could feel some sort of drift between them. When asked about what she and Vanitas talked about, Kairi laughed it off and said they were just "catching up." With the way she acted, it definitely wasn't just catching up. It wasn't any of his business—he respected her privacy—but something just unnerved him. Now, she replaced him with Roxas. What is going on with this girl?

Kairi could feel Sora's intense eyes just burning holes into her back. Sorry, Sora. She doubted she focus on her math studying if Sora was the one who helped her, so she made Roxas resume his former tutor role. Also, she doubted she could keep her mouth shut as well…

Keep it a secret. Vanitas's words swirled through her mind once more. She forced them out of her mind so that she could focus.

"Not feeling too hot about the whole thing too either, huh?" Roxas said to snap her out of it. Kairi forced a smile and nodded.

"You too. You've just been dazing off ever since."

"Yeah, since it also didn't have to be this way."
"Mhm…"

So, as Roxas helped Kairi with math, the rest of them turned on the TV to watch the Keyblade Wars, which took place at Radiant Garden. The stadium for the Keyblade Wars was huge; barely any of them could make out the faces of the tiny dots of the crowd that spectated. To experience the VR setting, everyone in the audience had glasses so that they could watch the action unfold. Sora never had the interest to look up the virtual field where the Keyblade Wars were held, so when he saw it right then and there on TV, he couldn't believe that such a big virtual field existed.

"That's Roxas's dad for you," Axel muttered, also amazed at the enormous field. "Big bucks, I see there, big bucks."

"You think I got what it takes to be a Keyblader?" Riku joked as he felt his muscles. "I don't maybe, maybe a few training sessions here and there and I'll—"

"Wow, and Ventus took Yuffie out in less than thirty seconds! That health bar of hers just zoomed by as if it never existed in the first place!" Everyone had their jaws on the ground, flabbergasted out how Ventus's first round just ended that quick. A replay of the whole thing was sped up two times. There, in the desert landscape, Ventus simply charged at her, casted reflect magic and fire magic turn by turn, and ended it with a slice of his Keyblade. His choice of Keyblade this round was Lady Luck to boost his magical strategy. Riku's words died in his mouth as he cleared his throat.

"Never mind."

"Hm, when do you think he'll whip out the Ultima Keyblade and show them who's boss?" Axel questioned. "I thought he would've used it in all of his rounds, but I guess not."

"Maybe it's a bit too early," Sora answered. "There are just the first few rounds—there isn't really any suspense or excitement yet. He'll probably use it near the end when all the attention is more focused on him."

"Hm, he hasn't said anything in interviews either yet, has he?" Namine spoke, not fangirling over Ventus for once. She shook her head and managed a small smile. "Well, the Keyblade War just started. I guess it's too early for action now."

All of them held that hopeful thought—it was just the beginning. Ventus would act later.

However, over the span of two weeks, Ventus failed to even say anything about Sora or use the Ultima Keyblade at all as the Keyblade War approached the finals.

"I fucking knew it." Both Kairi and Roxas winced when Sora slammed his glass of water down onto his kitchen table harshly. Kairi swore Sora was going to break the glass with that brute force. Riku, Axel, and Namine lowered down the TV's volume in Sora's living room to quell the brunet's anger. "He fucking stole my Keyblade, didn't he?"

"Hey, Sora, let's not jump to that conclusion," Roxas tried, but his cousin was almost beyond furious.

"I knew it. I knew we shouldn't have trusted him, but no, all of you were so excited merely because of the fact that he was a famous Keyblader. I shouldn't have gotten persuaded by any of you." Namine and Roxas looked the guiltiest out of the bunch—they were the ones who really urged Sora to believe Ventus's words. "I blindly gave him my only Keyblade and trusted his words. Heck, we didn't even know what his damn intentions were, but we just blindly trusted him to do the job. I was a fool."

"Sora, calm down," Kairi tried as she placed a hand on his shoulder, but he roughly shrugged it off. He tried not to react to the obvious look of hurt strewn across her face. Kairi gave a glance at Roxas, who simply shook his head. Sora ran a frustrated hand through his spiky locks.

"I should've known better."

"Just wait. Maybe he has something planned and—"

"Something planned? What the heck do you mean, Roxas?" Sora pointed to the TV, which currently showed an advertisement before the final match between Ventus and another young Keyblader named Xehanort. Amazingly, Ventus really did make it all the way to the finals, just like he said, but that wasn't even the important issue anymore. "Every interview that guy participated in, he didn't even mention the slightest hint about us. Hell, he even supported Keywielders in his last one, thanking them that all of this wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for your dad's stupid company! Everything he told us were lies; we didn't know his intentions by the slightest and we still don't! Is this your version of 'something planned'?" Roxas and Kairi exchanged a look, which pissed Sora off more by a couple of notches. For the past two weeks, they both have been skittish about something ever since Ventus and Vanitas came to visit. Sora wasn't dumb—he knew the both of them had been hiding something from him since the visit, but because he didn't want to fight over it, he simply humored them.

This time, he wasn't going to that anymore.

"Sora," Riku joined in, sensing that Sora was getting beyond angry. "Calm down. I understand how you feel, but let's see this 'til the end of this, okay?"

"But it already is the end. Can't you—"

"Guys, guys, guys," came Axel's frantic voice. Everyone whipped their heads over to Axel, who stared intently at the screen. "It's Ventus's final match." Namine ushered them with the motions of her hands to come over to the TV. Immediately, the four of them filled the sofa to see what had happened.

"Ventus is in the middle of picking his choice of Keyblade right now for the battle," Namine explained.

"It's over already," he muttered, letting reality sink in. "It's too late. Ventus isn't going to—"

"Alright, I made my choice!" Ventus announced. From both sides of the arena, two people came out to deliver the chosen Keyblades to the two wielders. Axel squinted his eyes at Ventus's opponent.

"And who this dude?"

"Xehanort, a pretty well-known Keyblader as well," Namine answered Axel as she scrolled through her phone for information. "Like Ventus, he also participated in all three Keyblade Wars, but he wasn't as successful as Ventus. According to the articles here, he went nearly insane over his first two losses in the semi-finals, so he trained super hard to be here in the finals today. Well, it worked out for him. At least he's guaranteed a silver medal by the end of the day."

"Uh, I don't think he would want just silver," Riku corrected, his eyes also glued to his phone as he did some research on this Xehanort guy. "I think he just wants to crush Ventus at this point. Do you know who he lost to during the semi-finals for both Keyblade Wars?" Namine grimaced.

"Ouch, don't tell me…"

"Yup. Ventus pummeled his ass both times. I'm pretty sure this isn't just a friendly battle of chivalry anymore. I bet this Xehanort guy just wants to shed blood at this point for the gold."

"Ooo, I feel bad for the dude now," Axel commented. "Just a tiny bit."

"Well, it doesn't matter, Ventus will probably win again anyway." Namine's fangirl moment did not activate at the right time, for Sora had visible steam coming out of his head at the thought of Ventus just winning and breaking all the promises he made to them.

"Forget it." Standing up, Sora went over to Namine and took the remote control by her side. His finger went over the power button—he didn't want to see no more. "There's no point in watching this anymo—"

"Ventus Airius, what kind of Keyblade did he just pull out right now?" the excited announcer literally yelled into the mic. "Incredible, is this some new sort of Keyblade we didn't know about? Look at that beautiful thing!"

"Sora, look, look," Riku urged the spiky-brunet, who immediately dropped the remote and darted his eyes back on the TV. His had to swallow the hitch that had formed earlier due to the perception of betrayal. Everyone except Roxas and Kairi had their eyes open at disbelief at the unexpected turn of event. They surely did not expect Ventus to do anything for them at this point in time.

"Look, Sora, he's using it, he's using it," Axel said excitedly to Sora to pull him back to reality. "You don't have to worry anymore, he's using it!" It was as if the world's weight was lifted off his shoulders, for Sora simply plopped back down to the space next to Namine and waited mutely for the next action to unfold. Namine lightly patted his shoulder in comfort and support as she watched, amazed as well. The camera zoomed into the Ultima Keyblade Ventus held, showing the world his design—his Keyblade. He had no idea what went on in Ventus's mind, but that was one of the last things on his mind as he sat there and watched Ventus begin his battle with Xehanort. He's really using it.

"Why did he decide to do this now?" Riku asked. He paused in his speaking and let out a hiss of pain when Ventus dived right at Xehanort and landed the first hit at his legs. "I don't know about you, but I think it's a tad bit too late."

"Why does it matter—he did it," Axel responded, giddy as he watched Sora's Keyblade in the hands of Ventus. "Gosh, holding that Keyblade sure makes him look so cool."

Definitely, there were many disadvantages for Ventus when using the Ultima Keyblade. One thing was that he had never trained with this Keyblade before. With the heavier weight, it must've affected Ventus's movements. To prove this point, everyone winced when they watched Ventus get hit on his bare shoulder due to the fact that he couldn't move fast enough; the Ultima Keyblade's weight lagged his motions. Another concerning thing that Sora took note of was that even though the Ultima Keyblade could sync with the Keyblade War's virtual field, that was all it could do. Each Keyblade presented by Keywielders gave a special effect during use, like Lady Luck's ability to enhance magic. However, the Ultima Keyblade obviously didn't have any of that—Ventus didn't have any boost whatsoever. All he had was a naked Keyblade.

"Is it me or is Ventus having a hard time?" Axel said, his excitement a bit lower due to seeing the blonde not doing as great as he thought he would be.

"Of course, he's using an unfamiliar Keyblade which he barely had time to adjust to," Sora explained.

They didn't know how long the battle lasted. It was tough; with the new Keyblade, Ventus had moments where he actually got cornered. Things looked a lot rougher for him compared to his other opponents. Xehanort did not give him a chance at all to easily strike.

However, Sora watched the moment in slo-mo. Ventus did some slashes and magic spells here and there, and before he knew it, he overpowered Xehanhort, trapped him in a vortex of water, and pierced his body with the Keyblade. The little remaining portion of his health bar disappeared, with Ventus's hanging by just a thread as well. A bell rang throughout the silent stadium, signaling the end of the final match and the end of the Keyblade Wars.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three.

The crowd erupted into a roar, shaking the whole stadium with their screams for Ventus's second victory. They roared even louder when Ventus lifted the Ultima Keyblade up in the air to signal his victory, a grin stretched painfully across his face. Namine squealed while Riku and Axel high-fived each other. Sora couldn't believe it as he watched Ventus and his Keyblade. With his Keyblade, Ventus won the third U-25 Keyblade War for gold.

Dad, are you seeing this?

Because everyone rode on their excitement at Ventus's victory, they didn't notice how both Kairi and Roxas were the only ones who were not celebrating with them.

"It's going to happen, isn't it?" she said to Roxas, who simply nodded.

"Luckily, he finished the battle before they… stopped him."

"This concludes the third U-25 Keyblade War…" the announcer said. Sora's excitement slowly diminished when he sensed something wrong with the announcer's tone. Roxas and Kairi pursed their lips into a tight line, preparing themselves. "This year's Keyblade War champion title goes to…

"Xehanort!"

Sora's lips parted slightly as a slow yet sharp inhale filled him.

What?

A dead silence spread across Sora's living room like an infectious virus.

The cheers, one by one, died down as everyone let that announcement sink in. Axel's smile slowly morphed into a frown while Riku's and Namine's turned into open mouths. On the TV, Ventus's smile never faltered, not even by the slightest. Sora's mind instantly went to work as it analyzed everything from beginning to end, trying to figure out what was wrong. However, he couldn't think straight, for he too was too surprised to do any thinking. Luckily, his question—everyone's question—got answered very soon enough.

"Due to the use of an unauthorized… weapon that is not licensed by Keywielders," the announcer himself didn't know how to properly deliver the news, "Ventus Airius is… disqualified."

Sora's mind finally put the pieces together. He whipped his head towards the direction of Roxas and Kairi and gave them an accusing look. They both guiltily looked away.

~Two weeks ago in the garage~

Roxas shrugged Ventus off when they were at the corner of the garage for their private conversation. His suspicion of the guy showed clearly as he glared at Ventus, his blue eyes unyielding. Ventus pouted.

"You're scaring me, Roxie." Roxas's eye twitched in irritation, and it took a lot for Roxas to outwardly express his irritation.

"The name is Roxas. Cut to the chase; what are your intentions?"

"Chill, chill, all your answers will," Roxas backed away from Ventus when he suddenly twirled on his heels, did a three-sixty turn, and pointed finger guns accompanied with the click of the tongue at Roxas, "be answered." This guy has got to be a joke, Roxas thought. His maturity could be rivaled to Axel's, considering his age, and being compared to Axel was no easy feat.

Seeing that Roxas clearly didn't appreciate his humor, Ventus straightened up and cleared his throat. "You were about to say something dangerous earlier, my friend."

"What do you mean dangerous? It's justified," Roxas said with narrowed eyes. He looked at the Ultima Keyblade and shook his head. "What are you thinking? Do you know the rules of the Keyblade War?" Ventus shrugged.

"You tell me. I participated in it two times, my friend."

"Then why?"

"I'm surprised Sora hasn't caught on yet. It's a pretty blaring rule," Ventus's smile died.

"Use of an unauthorized Keyblade is forbidden," Roxas finished for him. "What are you planning to do with that Keyblade? You can't use, so are you planning on stealing it?" Ventus put both hands to his heart, feigning extreme hurt at Roxas's accusation.

"Dear god, my Roxie, you are cruel to me! But of course, I couldn't fool you, could I, son of the CEO of Keywielders?" Ventus put his hands into his pocket and sighed. "I really was planning to just not tell anyone. Well, except Kairi. That's what Vanitas is telling Kairi over there too." To make his point, he darted a small finger towards Kairi and Vanitas, who were also having some intense conversation. "But I just knew I couldn't go past you. Heck, I actually didn't think I could go past Sora, but he obviously isn't aware of the Keyblade War and its rules that much, is he?"

"Since he hates it for obvious reasons," Roxas muttered. "But get to the point: what exactly are you doing? Why are you doing this? It's not as if you're going to use it and purposely get disqualified." When Ventus failed to answer him and just continued smiling at him, it finally dawned on Roxas. His frown quickly evaporated into a look of disbelief. "No way…"

"Bingo!" Ventus did another three-sixty spin and gave a peace sign near his cheek. "What could be a bigger blast?" Roxas stared incredulously at this guy—he couldn't be serious. In that one moment, so many questions went through Roxas's head. He wanted to ask so many, but only one word came out.

"Why?"

Over at Vanitas and Kairi, Kairi had a hard time letting it all absorb.

"He's planning to lose it? What the actual—you're lying." Vanitas grimaced and shook his head.

"I don't think I would've pulled you out here, with all your friends staring at us like we're some reality television show, just to lie. If you're too shocked, you can talk to your friend Roxas over there to make yourself feel better," Vanitas discreetly jerked his thumb over to Roxas and Ventus, "If Ventus pulled him off to the side like that, then he must be telling him the same thing I'm telling you. Just don't tell anyone else though." Kairi's mouth opened and closed; she didn't really know what to say as a response. There were just so many things Kairi wanted to ask in more detail. She started with the first one.

"Why are you telling me and Roxas?"

"Well, it was just supposed to be you, since it wouldn't look too suspicious I guess for me to talk to you. I mean, it would still be suspicious in the sense that we're…" Vanitas left the phrase hanging, although Kairi already got what he meant. "That was part of the plan, but your friend must've jumped aboard ship somehow along the process."

"Why?"

"To be the mediator of things just in case spiky boy decides to blow a fuse as he watches the Keyblade Wars unfold." Vanitas was obviously talking about Sora. "Ventus understands how important this issue must be to him, so to deviate from the original plan during the actual Keyblade War would upset the guy. Having at least one person in your group knowing about the whole thing would calm things more better." Kairi frowned.

"Why not just… tell him the actual plan?" Vanitas shrugged, stupefied himself.

"I don't know, Ventus said he wanted to at least have one 'heroic moment' in his life. The guy just does what he wants, I can't really stop him there. Don't worry though—Ventus is on your side, despite how fishy everything probably is for you guys. He's a good guy; trust me." Kairi ran a hand through her hair as she to make sense of it all. She agreed—it would be such a big deal. But to… but to execute in such a way…

"Why, Ventus, why?" Roxas asked. "This is a big thing for you, isn't it? How could you just—"

"Shh, shh." Ventus put a finger to his lips. "All your answers will be answered soon enough. Trust me. Don't tell your kid cousin about any of this, okay?"

"You guys knew right from the very beginning, didn't you?" Sora asked, mind blown way out of proportions. "No wonder you guys have been so shaky lately." He also belittled himself in his mind—how could he have not seen such a predictable thing? Of course, Ventus couldn't just waltz into the Keyblade War, wielding some Keyblade that only the gods know where it came from. However, there was just one thing he still couldn't process: why?

"He figured that by losing at the final round while finally revealing the Ultima Keyblade, he could create the hugest uproar ever," Roxas tried to explain as he watched Ventus walk off the stage. He could already tell he was going to get in trouble with those he worked with. "A huger uproar than just him winning. In the hearts of many, everyone believed Ventus was going to win anyway. Right, Namine?" Namine sucked her lips in when Roxas pointed her out as an example. "They all expected him to win. What could bring greater attention then losing it all at the very end, at the very last second? He told me that it wasn't going to be easy to bring the Ultima Keyblade out in the arena to start it off, but he said he'll somehow manage. Here we are—he somehow managed to do it. He also managed to win the battle too just by the thread, which he admitted was going to be hard and difficult."

"Vanitas told me the same thing," Kairi confessed. "He told me that only I was supposed to know just so that I could keep an eye on Sora from doing anything reckless, but Roxas figured out Ventus's intentions too soon, so he got to know too." Feeling like he lost, Sora turned his eyes towards the TV once more.

"Wow," was all he could say. Half of him was relieved—Ventus didn't betray them. Ventus, all along, stuck by their side and was determined to pull through to the very end. However, the other half of him had a hard time accepting it. Ventus literally threw away his win, possibly his biggest win yet with the increasingly competitive playing field, just to help them. Just to help him. Sora couldn't believe it: Ventus, at the height of his career in Keyblading, did this all just for him and his father.

Why?

Why?

Why?

That question still hasn't been answered, and both Kairi and Roxas did not have the answer to that question either.

"Seriously? This is crazy," Axel muttered as he leaned over his knees. "What's going to happen to him?"

"Massive flux of interviews, that's what," Riku answered, also at great disbelief that this turn of event actually happened. "The real war is going to start now for Ventus." Everyone in the room simply continued to watch the TV with the initial shock failing to go away. Sora clasped his hands into tight fists. He needed answers soon, or else his curiosity will just eat at him.

Contact with Ventus over the course of the week proved impossible. No matter how many times Sora tried calling him, he failed to pick up. Heck, he even tried calling Vanitas—credits to Kairi for giving him his number—but even he didn't pick up. Under normal circumstances, Sora would've gotten upset. However, because the situation definitely wasn't normal, Sora spared the both of them.

"Be patient, Sora," Kairi said, worried at how frazzled the spiky brunet seemed to appear. "Ventus has a lot on his plate too right now. Definitely a lot." Ventus has not done any interviews yet, much to the public's unrest. No interviews meant no answers. Riku came over to Sora from the living room and patted his back.

"Kairi's right. The only thing we can do is wait. The answers will come soon no matter what." Sora hoped the answers would come as quick as possible.

His wish came true when Ventus finally appeared on TV the next day.

Life update: I missed my physics final by accident.

HAHAHHAHA My stupid ass thought it was on Saturday. NEWS: It was on Friday.

So guess what I did: I wrote fanfic to make my depressed dumbass feel better

Good news: I CAN REMAKE IT ON MONDAY AKA TOMORROW SO HERE YOU GUYS GO *runs to go study*