MANDATORY AUTHOR'S NOTE: OMG I WROTE THIS FOR YOU GUYS ON MY PHONE SO MUCH ADRENALINE AND DRAMA IN THIS CHAPTER GET READING THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS

DISCLAIMER: This disclaimer applies to the entire story. Kingdom Hearts and any and all things having to do with it do not belong to me. However, the plot and plot events are entirely MINE, along with the band Destiny's Embrace, the use of the word Hikari as a name, and the character's personalities.

NOTE: Some violence in this chapter and probably quite a few typos. I apologize for the typos in this chapter and also the previous chapter. I will go back and fix them as soon as I can! Also I just realized I already included Vincent and Rinoa earlier as doctors, I am so sorry omg. I will go back and change them to Vincent and Rinoa later! UPDATE THEY HAVE BEEN REPLACED. UPDATE GOD DAMMIT DENISE YOU'RE RIGHT BAHAHAHAHA JUST CHANGED Lenne TO PAINE BECAUSE IM STUPID AND I'M RUNNING OUT OF CHARACTERS LOL AND RENO WILL SHOW UP LATER I PROMISE.

ENJOY!

~x~

Chapter Fifty-Two

~x~

Kairi woke up in the morning with a huge headache, bone-tired from staying up all night taking care of Sora. When he came down from whatever drug-fueled high he was on, he really came down. He crashed so hard that it was like he was drunk and depressed beyond belief, and she was literally running around their bedroom trying to keep him confined to the bed where he would be safe from hurting himself. It was a terrifying night until Sora finally (blessedly) fell asleep.

She couldn't believe what had happened yesterday. Even if everything Sora had said probably wouldn't have been said if he was sober, the fact of the matter stood that the words had still been uttered. She just couldn't shake them. Did Sora really not care about what she wanted? Did her opinion mean so little to him . . . ? And did he really feel tired of her? Not to mention, his aggressiveness while high was unsettling. Almost like a teaser. What if Sora got addicted to whatever this new gang had given him? Would his temper get worse? These were the kinds of things that upset Kairi.

The band had missed their show as well. Kairi had had to call her father and tell him the truth about what was going on, which did not make him happy. Olette had called the club to tell them that the show would have to be canceled, and the rest of the band had been so angry that most of them had left for the night to go out drinking. Only Vanitas and Olette had stayed behind to help Kairi take care of Sora and also Tokki, since Kairi was so preoccupied that she wouldn't have had time to take care of the puppy, too.

It was still early and the house was asleep, so Kairi knew that now was her only chance. She slowly got up, pulling on one of Sora's hoodies, and then tip-toed into the kitchen. She slowly opened the pantry doors and stared at all of the food. She had no idea why she was doing this, only that she was stressed out from yesterday going the complete opposite of how she'd wanted it to, and it was building up to the maximum. She needed to find a way to release and control those emotions, and in her mind, this was the only way that worked.

Olette entered the kitchen with a messy bedhead and sleepy eyes, yawning and stopping in front of the kitchen table. Kairi was sitting there, a whole table full of food before her. She'd already finished three bowls of cereal and a couple packets of Fruit Gushers, and she was working on a package of Pop-Tarts. A fresh bag of Doritos, a box of Ritz, a bag of Oreos, Animal Crackers, and a plate full of grapes were sitting in front of her, still waiting to be devoured. Oletee stared at her friend incredulously.

"What . .. The Hell . . . ?"

Kairi was mortified. She froze, her cheeks flaring bright red. She had no idea what to say. Her food was poised halfway to her mouth and she just wanted to cry. Olette probably thought she was disgusting for eating this much in the morning. She probably thought Kairi was going to get fat.

It only made Kairi want to eat more, filling herself up so she could feel the sweet release of emptiness again.

"I'm . . . Hungry?" was all she could think to utter.

Much to her relief, Olette just shrugged. "Well, you're pregnant. So this makes sense. Anyway, I just heard the noise and thought I should check it out. Everything okay with Sora?"

"He was on some drug or another." Kairi rolled her eyes, continuing to chow down on her food. "It was like taking care of a child."

"Ah, well." Olette walked over to start some coffee for Vanitas, which is what she usually did when she stayed the night. "I couldn't believe what he said yesterday. I was like, oooooh she's gonna get him."

Kairi laughed a little bit, still diligently making her way through her binge. "I gave him a piece of my mind, but he isn't going to remember any of it."

Olette shook her head sadly. "He's probably going to regret it, though."

"How do you regret something you don't remember saying, though?" She set her food down and sighed. "I don't know what to do, Olette. We just fight all the time. Like, literally 24/7."

"Okay, well what exactly did he say yesterday?" Olette asked with a deep frown.

"Just a bunch of stuff about not caring and thinking that I was causing a lot of problems in his life. He said his life revolved around me, or something."

Olette looked disturbed. "He said his life revolves around you? That's . . . That's a little weird."

Kairi shrugged. "But if he was on something, doesn't that mean that none of it matters, though? Like, do you think he was more honest or no?"

Olette looked thoughtful for a moment, reaching for the box of Pop-Tarts and pulling a silver package out. "Can't say for sure. Depends on the context. Did he say it in like a creepy way? Or did he say it in like an angry way?"

Kairi didn't want to tell her the context. She didn't want her to know everything that had happened between the two of them yesterday, but she did want Olette's advice. The truth was, Kairi was nervous. She was nervous about all the arguing and the lying. She was nervous and scared about what the future was going to hold for her and Sora. What if they broke up? What if one of them got hurt? Kairi didn't know what to do.

"Olette, this is really bad," was all she could manage to say. "I just . . . I don't think things are going to end well."

"Well, that's fucking nice to know."

At the sound of Sora's voice, Kairi nearly dropped the food she was eating. Olette looked pale and Kairi hurried to get out of her chair. Sora looked livid. He turned and went toward the front door. Kairi set down her food and went after him, panicking about him overhearing their conversation.

"Sora, wait!" she cried, pulling open the front door.

Sora was standing out in the driveway, his car keys jangling in his hand. He turned to glare at her, his eyes glowing blue. He looked hurt and angry.

"So you think we're gonna break up, is that it?" he asked loudly. "If that's what you want, then just say it to my face rather than gossiping about it in my fucking house, eh?"

"Sora, that's not what I meant!" Kairi cried, stopping a few yards away from him on the walkway. "Are you forgetting that you came home high as a kite yesterday? That I had to spend all night taking care of you while you went from pissed off to crying to loud and overly giddy all fucking night? Do you think I deserved that?"

Sora's glower faltered a bit and he put his hands on his hips, looking away. ". . . No. You didn't deserve that. At all."

"Then why the fuck do you think you have the right to be storming out and acting like a puss just because you heard me confiding in my best friend?" she yelled.

"Look, I'm sorry!" he cried, throwing his arms wide. "I didn't think about that. I honestly don't even really remember everything I said or did yesterday."

"Do you think that's okay?" Kairi crossed her arms over her chest. "Because it isn't. You were supposed to be at work, working to pay our rent, and obviously you weren't because how else would you have time to take whatever it was your new gang gave you."

Sora's anger seemed to dissipate completely and he went white as a sheet. Kairi believed that he couldn't remember anything that had happened the day before, but she didn't think that it was excusable. The fact remained that it had happened and the things he had said had to have come from somewhere. Their relationship obviously had a lot of problems, and Kairi wasn't sure how they were going to work them out.

"I was . . . I was going to tell you," Sora stammered. "I mean—"

"Tell me what?" Kairi asked quietly. "That you're going to do whatever you want without including me in your decisions? Thanks for that."

"Well, I didn't really expect them to show up at my work and bother me. They made me fake sick so I could leave early and talk with them," he explained, taking a step closer to her. He was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans, his combat boots, and a blue V-neck, and he had slipped his car keys into his front jeans pocket.

"And that just so happened to involve doing drugs?"

"Cocaine."

Kairi's eyes just about popped out of her head. "What?"

Sora flushed and hung his head. "It was . . . Yeah, that's what they made me do."

Fuming, Kairi ran her fingers through her long hair and turned away for a moment. Of all things . . .

"So what, that's part of their little 'initiation'?" she demanded. "They make you do some stupid drugs and lose your job, and then you're in?"

"I didn't lose my job, Kai," he protested. "And no, that's not all it takes. I'm supposed to go meet them right now to talk about the next step."

"Well, then I'm going with you." Kairi turned to face him fully, challenging him with her eyes. "If you want me to go along with this at all, you'll take me with you."

Sora looked torn. Kairi knew he really didn't want her to be involved with this situation at all, but she didn't care. She didn't want him to be doing this, and if he was going to do it anyway, then she was going to be a part of it.

Behind them, Vanitas came out in a pair of sweatpants and a black zip-up hoodie. Olette was standing on the stoop in her robe, arms folded against the cold.

"Kairi, you can't be serious," Vanitas said incredulously. "You realize how incredibly dangerous that is, right?"

"I don't care," Kairi said, not looking away from Sora. "If you guys want to do this, then you can't stop me from coming with you."

"No," Sora growled threateningly. "You're not coming with us. It's too dangerous."

"Did you not just hear me?" Kairi stormed past him, putting her hand on the handle of the passenger side door. "I don't care. You obviously don't care what I want—in fact, you said that yesterday in front of everyone—so I don't care what you say. I'm going."

"Vani, help me!" Sora pleaded with his brother, but Vanitas was shaking his head.

"She has a point, dude," he said. "I mean, you said some pretty mean shit yesterday. She could just hide out in the car. We're meeting in public, anyway."

"Are you . . . ? Are you insane?!" Sora rubbed the back of his neck, obviously distressed. "No. Just . . . No! Dude, I can't be okay with this."

"Then don't be okay with it?" Vanitas turned to give Olette a kiss good bye and then went to place his hands on his twin's shoulders. "She's strong. She can take care of herself."

Sora snorted his disbelief. "I can't protect her if she's throwing herself into the danger every chance we get."

Kairi closed her eyes. She wanted to slap him across the face. There he went, victim-blaming again. He believed she had put herself into all the dangerous situations she'd be in, yet she could count a lot of different times where she had been in danger because of choices he'd made. As soon as the car locks went up, she piled into the car, uncaring of the fact that she was wearing a hoodie and leggings with unbrushed hair. She could feel all the food she'd binged on sitting in the pit of her stomach ,but her anger at Sora overcame her desire to get rid of it.

Vanitas got into the backseat and Sora into the driver's, and as soon as they were on the road, Kairi couldn't hold back anymore.

"You have got some nerve, Sora," she said quietly, her voice like a hissing snake.

"What's that supposed to mean?" His knuckles were whitening from how tightly he was holding the steering wheel.

"You honestly think that I put myself into danger?" She could already feel the tears brewing. "You think that all the bad things that have happened to me are my fault?"

Sora took a deep breath, his head tilting back a little bit. "Oh, my God. Okay, no. That isn't what I was saying."

"Then what were you saying, Sora?" Kairi asked. "Because what it sounded like was the one thing I told you never to do again."

"Victiiiiim blaminnnngggg," Vanitas sang from the backseat, earning himself a vicious glare from Sora in the rearview mirror.

"I wasn't victim-blaming," Sora defended himself, turning down the street that would lead them to the mall, which Kairi assumed was where they were meeting these people. "I was just saying that I can't protect you if you insist on throwing yourself out into the line of fire, like . . . ? Are you serious?"

"I don't want you to join this gang, Sora," Kairi cried. "I don't know how many times I have to say it for you to just fucking get it! They aren't going to help us! They're only going to hurt us! They're going to make you think they're helping us, and then they're going to have a hold of you for the rest of your life. We'll never be safe again. If you cross them even once, they'll hurt you or me, or they'll even hurt our friends. Is that what you want?"

"Kairi, there isn't anything I can do!" Sora shouted. "Nothing! I've already joined it, already started the process. I don't think you truly understand what we're dealing with here, do you?"

"What, a little 120 pound girl and three guys?! I think you guys can handle that pretty easily ,don't you think?" Kairi said sarcastically.

Vanitas gaped, and Sora pulled the car to a screeching halt on the side of the road. He stared at her as though she had turned into a monstrous being.

Vanitas was the only one to speak. "Kairi, you do realize who Xion is, don't you?"

Kairi shook her head. Her gut was twisting. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like what he was about to say.

Sora scowled. "Of course. Because you're freaking out based on an assumption."

Kairi opened her mouth to snap at him, but Vanitas cut her off.

"Xion is the daughter of the boss of the Destiny Island's faction of the mafia, Kairi," Vanitas explained to her. "So it's not just four we're dealing with—it's the mafia."

Kairi's eyes went wide and she stared from one to the other, her hand slowly going up to cover her mouth. "Are you . . . What?"

"Yeah," Sora said. "So even if Xion said it was just her coming after us, it's not. She had the support of a lot of dangerous people. And that's also why we can't move away—they'll just find us."

"So you want to start an all-out war?" Kairi asked. She felt embarrassed for not truly understanding the situation.

"No," Vanitas answered. "We just need help so we can figure out what to do. Because we have no idea."

"I . . ." Kairi's eyes filled with tears. She was mortified. "I'm sorry, Sora. I didn't . . . I mean, I . . ."

"No," Sora sighed, reaching over to caress the side of her face and wipe her tears. "I'm the one who's sorry. I should have told you what we knew about Xion. Us fighting . . . It's not going to solve anything."

"Tell me about it," Vanitas chuckled. "Everyone would love it if you guys would quit fighting. It's like watching Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield fight—you guys are way too cute of a couple."

Sora rolled his eyes at Vanitas's dorky comment and looked at Kairi.

"We can talk about it later, okay?" he promised her. "Right now, Vani and I really need to focus on this, all right?"

Kairi nodded. "I'm still coming with you, though. Also," she pulled out her cell phone and opened Xion's foreboding text message to show them, "Xion sent me this last night."

Sora's brow knitted together. "Figures. They're getting antsy. Okay, well now we know for sure that they haven't forgotten about us, which means we need to be proactive and act."

"I still wish it didn't have to be this way," Kairi said, putting her cell phone away. "But I guess this is just my life, and I'll have to accept it."

Sora grabbed her hand and squeezed it affectionately. "There's no rules in life that dictate that we're required to accept the hands that we're dealt, Kai."

Vanitas leaned forward in his seat and touched Kairi's shoulder. "All we can do is try to make our own path. Fuck the cards."

Kairi thew her head back and laughed, wiping her eyes. Leave it to Vanitas to provide the comic relief when it was most needed. Sora merely gave her one last smile before he turned the car back on and finished the drive to the mall.

~x~

Sora pulled the car around to the back parking lot of the mall, where there were few cars and an even fewer amount of people. He drove all the way to the end of it, where Kairi could see a small group of people standing around, talking and smoking. Some of them were laughing, but it didn't put Kairi at ease.

"Okay," Sora said as he parked near them. "Kaiir, just wait in the car unless they say you have to get out. Sit in the driver's seat just in case you need to get away."

Anxiously, Kairi grabbed his hand. "Can I at least roll the window down so I can hear what you guys are saying? I don't like the thought of not being able to hear."

Sora nodded and then looked at Vanitas. He raised his eyebrows, and Vanitas lifted the front of his hoodie, showing both Kairi and Sora that he was armed. Back a few months ago, Kairi knew she would have hated the fact that Vanitas had a gun. Now, Kairi was used to it. In fact, she preferred it to being unarmed in the midst of people like the ones that were standing in front of their car.

Sora leaned over to kiss Kairi on the cheek before both he and his brother climbed out of the car and stood next to each other. Kairi crawled over into the driver's seat, panic clawing at her stomach and heart as she turned the keys in the ignition far enough so that she could roll down the window. She hoped this wasn't going to end in violence . . .

Out of the group of young men and women standing around, only a few stood out to Kairi: A short, thin man with shoulder-length silver hair, a tall, skinny one with pin-straight silver hair that fell to his chest, and a muscular man with cropped silver spikes. There was a girl with choppy black hair that looked to be laughing and jumping around, a tallish man with long, tousled brown hair and a small scar bisecting his face, and another boy with long, spiky black hair. A woman stood a little ways behind Vincent, her dark brown hair long to her chest, and a pretty threatening-looking girl with brown hair was sitting on the hood of a car next to her. There were quite a few other people in the small crowd, but most of them were sneering at Sora and Vanitas, making the overall atmosphere of this meeting seem ominous.

"You're late," the short silver-haired boy said. He was looking down at his nails through his chin-length bangs.

"Yeah, we . . . Some stuff came up," Sora answered, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Kairi could tell that he was nervous.

"Some stuff came up?" The tall one took a step forward. "At this stage in the game, that doesn't really work for us."

"Can we just skip all the 'we're-so-scary-we're-a-gang' crap and get to the next part of the process, Kadaj?" Vanitas complained loudly.

The one who had first spoken drew back his shoulders and crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes blazed, and it took Kairi a second to realize that he was looking directly at her.

"The girl," Kadaj said. "Did you bring her for a reason?"

Kairi gulped. She wasn't moving from this car unless Sora told her to.

Sora didn't look back at her, but Kairi saw his fists clench at his sides. "She's my girlfriend," he said. "She wanted to come."

"Tell her to come hang out with us," the one with the short silver hair said. His grin was eerie and leering. "She doesn't have to be so shy."

"N-No, thank you," Kairi called out meekly from the window.

There was a second of silence before multiple people in the gang burst out laughing, and the sprightly girl with the short black hair came skipping up to the window.

"You don't have to be so scared," she giggled. "We're not gonna bite you, silly!"

Kairi regarded her warily. She seemed nice enough . . .

"You're not our enemies, boys," Kadaj said smoothly. He held his arms wide. "Your friends are our friends."

Sora still didn't relax, so Kairi didn't budge. She placed her foot on the gas pedal and her hands on the wheel and ignition. If she had to go, she would.

"Hm," the long-haired silverette mused loudly. "Is disobedience something that's normal for her . . . ? You? Your friends?"

Sora turned to look at Kairi over his shoulder. He jerked his head, signaling Kairi to get out. Begrudgingly and a bit nervously, she did so slowly, taking the keys with her. As soon as she did, the raven-haired girl gave her a tight hug.

"I'm Yuffie," she said. Then, she proceeded to introduce everyone. The short silverette was named Kadaj, the long-haired one was Yazoo, the muscular one was Loz, the brown-haired girl was Rinoa, the ravenette boy was Vincent, the brunette man was Leon, and the other brown-haired girl was Lenne. She introduced the other members of the group, but Kairi didn't really pay attention because she was more interested in what Kadaj was saying to Sora and Vanitas.

"We looked into this 'Xion' girl you spoke of," Kadaj said as he began to pace back and forth. "Seems you forgot to mention who her father was."

"Yeah," Sora said sheepishly, toeing the asphalt with his boot. "About that . . ."

"Lateness, disobedience, lying," Yazoo remarked, crossing his arms behind his back and tilting his head to one side. "Do you really think we need members like this, Loz?"

Loz smirked. "Not really, no."

Vanitas put his hands up defensively. "Look, guys. I don't think we got off on the right foot. We—"

Kadaj held up his hand for silence. "Ignore my brother. He forgets his place."

Yazoo looked displeased, but he seemed to get the hint. He stepped back to join some of the other members of the gang, who all immediately began whispering with him about something or another.

Kadaj sighed, steepling his fingers in front of his chest. "We have already begun the initiation, so nothing short of betrayal would stop that from continuing. However, the fact that your target is the daughter of someone very important, the terms of our agreement will have to change."

"Change how?" Sora asked. He shot Kairi a look sidelong where she was standing with Yuffie, Leon, and the others. Kairi knew he was worried that she would be negatively involved, but all she could do was watch and wait.

Kadaj looked at Loz, who just shrugged, and then Kadaj said, "I need a chance to discuss what to do with my brothers. Once we've decided, we'll let you know what the next step will be."

Sora nodded. "Should we wait here, or . . . ?"

"Yes, yes, mingle," Kadaj said, throwing his arm around Loz and leading him over to Yazoo.

Sora and Vanitas walked to join Kairi, Sora placing an arm around Kairi's neck and pulling her against him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, apprehensive about whatever it was Kadaj was deciding on.

"Hey guys," Vanitas said, greeting Leon and Vincent with fist bumps.

"You nervous?" Leon asked. His tone was friendly, but his appearance was a little frightening.

"A little, to be honest," Vanitas said. "More so about the fact that Kairi is here. We didn't really account for that."

"So she's nosy," Lenne said in a monotone. She hopped down from the hood of the car and walked over to Kairi with her hands on her hips. She sneered and looked her up and down. "Seems like she's more trouble than she's worth."

Kairi bristled, holding onto Sora even tighter, but she kept her mouth shut for fear of making things turn sour for Sora and Vanitas. She looked over at Rinoa, who seemed disinterested and a bit aloof. Rinoa looked at her, but her stare was blank.

Kairi didn't know what to think of these people. They didn't really seem scary, per se—at least, not scary in the way that the Organization had been or how Riku had been. She was sure they were probably hiding their "scary" sides, however, due to the fact that Sora and Vanitas truly weren't their enemies. But Kairi had seen the movies and read the stories. Gang initiations were anything but friendly. They could literally ask Sora and Vanitas to do anything they wanted and if the boys wanted their help badly enough, they would do it.

"How did yesterday go?" Vincent ask. He, too seemed to not really care about their answer, like Rinoa.

"Well, I was fine," Vanitas said, laughing. "But Sora . . . He acted like a crazy person."

"Seriously?" Yuffie giggled. "I didn't think he'd react like that . . ."

Kairi frowned and said to her, "Wait, you're the one who gave it to him?"

Yuffie just laughed. "Uh . . . We all did it with him. A couple lines, it was no big deal. Except Sora was an idiot and smoked it because Loz told him to."

"Well, Loz is a bumbling idiot," Leon muttered. "Sorry about that, though. Hope it wasn't too traumatizing."

Sora and Kairi exchanged glances.

"Nope," Sora lied. "It wasn't too bad. Except I can't remember what I did, and I kinda messed up my band's chance of getting a record deal for awhile."

"Shit, seriously?" Vincent raised one eyebrow. "That sucks. Were you too out of it?"

"Well, the high didn't last too long, but I had taken something else, too, so it really fucked me up," Sora explained.

Kairi fought the urge to glower up at him. She knew she had no real right to be too angry at him. After all, she was lying to him about something much worse. Something that would eventually come out and when it did, all Hell was going to break loose. At the thought of it, Kairi was reminded of the fact that she was still full of food and stress, and it only upset her more.

"Sora was an asshole, let's put it that way," Vanitas grimaced. "But we really need your guys's help, so we'll do anything."

"Why do you guys need our help so badly?" Rinoa asked, her voice so soft that Kairi almost missed her speaking.

Sora's grip tightened around the redhead. "It's a long story, but there's basically like a lot of people who keep trying to hurt Kairi, and now that Xion is involved, Vanitas and I can't do it alone."

"And your band members?" Leon asked. "They aren't involved?"

"Eh, not really," Sora replied. "After my . . . Well, after my cousin died, I decided I didn't want to involve anyone else in it. Vani is here by choice."

"You lost your cousin?" Yuffie pouted. "That's so sad . . ."

"Yep, and Kairi's best friend—she was caught in the crossfire, too," Vanitas said sadly. "And the guy who's really the problem is in prison, but the guys who answer to him are working with Xion, so here we are."

"I see," Rinoa said. She began absentmindedly playing with Vincent's hair.

Lenne tossed her hair back over her shoulder. "Sounds like this is your girl's problem, not yours. You're literally joining with us for life, and it's not even anything to do with you. Why?"

Sora deadpanned. "Uh, because I love her . . . ? What the fuck?"

"Yeah, you should mind your own business," Kairi threatened, disentangling herself from Sora's embrace and facing Lenne fully. "You don't even know me."

"I don't care to know you," Lenne said snootily. "All I know is this isn't really something you should be putting the people you care for through. If you really loved him, you wouldn't make him do this."

Kairi just about lost it. She inhaled sharply and clenched her fists. "So you know my name and a little of my story, and that makes you think you know me?"

"I just said I don't care to know you," Lenne said, already combing her hair up into a ponytail that she had wrapped around her wrist. "But if you want to fight about it, then we can."

"What?" Kairi took a step back. "No, I don't want to fight. I'm just saying that you should back off."

Lenne looked like she was going to laugh. "Ah, now I get it. You want other people to fight your battles for you, but when someone challenges you to your face, you back down."

Kairi couldn't believe the nerve of this girl. She turned to look at Sora as if to apologize, and then when she turned around, she was already pulling her hair into a bun. This Lenne girl was a crazy bitch, but Kairi wasn't going to let her talk to her like that. Not to mention, Kairi was a little on edge because of all the food she'd eaten.

"Just settle down, girls," Leon said, moving forward to stand in-between them. Then, in a low tone he said to Sora, "Control your girlfriend, or Kadaj will take it out on her."

Sora grabbed Kairi's hand and dragged her back to him. Kairi half-expected him to make some sort of threatening comment, but much to her surprise he merely kissed the top of her head and told her to calm down. She stared up at him incredulously and then frowned. He must be really scared about the situation if he felt like he had to say something like that.

"Sora?" Kairi whispered to him.

He hugged her, blocking her from everyone's view as Vanitas started talking to them about something to do with cars. "What?" he whispered back.

"What do you think they're gonna make you guys do?" she asked. "It's not gonna be that bad, is it?"

"Hopefully not," Sora murmured, pulling back so he could look her in the eyes. "They may seem a little scary, but once we're in, it'll be like we're part of the family."

"Yeah, the family that makes you sell drugs and beat people up, possibly even kill them," Kairi complained.

"Hey," Sora said gently, leaning down to peck her on the lips. "Don't worry so much. You'll only stress out the baby."

Kairi immediately felt sad as soon as he mentioned her lie, and she lowered her gaze. She didn't know when she was going to tell him the truth, and she was terrified of what would happen when she did. Judging by how much they'd been fighting lately, Kairi didn't think it was completely unrealistic for him to break up with her once and for all. She didn't want that to happen, but since there wasn't really any way out of it, she knew she was just going to have to accept it.

Sora playfully kissed her cheek a bunch of times to snap her out of her reverie, causing her to giggle and hug him tightly around the midriff.

"I'm sorry about all the fighting," Kairi said. "I don't mean to snap at you all the time."

"And I'm sorry about . . . Yesterday . . ."

Kairi looked up at him and grinned wickedly when she saw that he was blushing. "You should be," she teased. "You were definitely . . . Not yourself!"

He smiled a little. "Yeah? I'm gonna have to agree with you on that one. For the record . . . I do care about your opinion. If this was only Xion that we were dealing with, then I'd agree with you—I wouldn't be joining this gang. But since it's as bad as it is, that's why."

"It's okay," Kairi said decidedly. "I just hope that next time, you'll be more forthcoming about what's going on. If I had known, I wouldn't have flipped out on you so much."

"So you're not mad anymore?"

Kairi shook her head and started to say something else when Kadaj clapped his hands loudly and called for Sora and Vanitas's attention. Reluctantly, Kairi let go of Sora and watched him and his brother walk over to where the silver-haired men were standing. She clasped her hands tightly in front of her, inwardly hoping and praying that they weren't going to ask them to do anything too wild.

"Do you boys realize exactly what you're wanting to do here?" Kadaj asked, arms crossed. "Do you fully understand and comprehend?"

"Yes," the twins said simultaneously.

"We need your help," Sora added.

Kadaj nodded and then gestured to three of the guys who were standing around him (some of the ones Kairi couldn't remember the names of). They came and stood in front of Sora and Vanitas, who looked tense and a little bit afraid.

"Then you'll forgive me for this," Kadaj said. With that, he, Yazoo, and Loz turned around and walked across the parking lot, leaving everyone else behind to start crowding around Sora and Vanitas.

A bit panicked, Kairi tried to make sense of what was going on. She looked to Yuffie for help, who merely gave her a sympathetic look and took her hand.

"I think we should walk into the mall or something," she suggested. "You . . . Might not want to be out here for this . . ."

"Out here for . . . For what?" Kairi could feel her pulse racing and her palms beginning to sweat. She turned and tried to go over to Sora, who she could no longer see because everyone was surround him.

Then she heard the first punch being thrown.

Yuffie held onto Kairi's hand tighter and started dragging her away, but Kairi fought with all of her might. She couldn't just walk away while all these people were hurting Sora and Vanitas. She couldn't just stand by and listen to it, and she certainly couldn't ignore it. Anxiously, she tried to go back, but Tif a was now standing in her way with Rinoa.

"They chose this," Rinoa said simply, her eyes void of emotions.

"N-No," Kairi said, trying desperately to shake off Yuffie's iron grip.

"I told you," Lenne chided nastily. "They wouldn't have to do this if you'd fight your own battles."

Enraged, Kairi balled her free hand into a fist and swung for Lenne, landing an excellent blow to her right cheek. Surprised, Yuffie let go of her long enough for Kairi to lunge at the brown-haired girl who was pushing her last nerve. She pulled at her hair and scratched at her face until the two of them went crashing to the asphalt. Kairi kicked and clawed and punched, trying her best to take out her distress and rage on her. She hadn't even known her very long, and here she was, catfighting with her on the ground of the parking lot and all while her boyfriend and his twin brother were getting their asses beat just meters away.

Yuffie and Rinoa finally pulled them apart in time for Kairi to see how bad it was getting for Sora and Vanitas. Two guys were holding Vanitas up while another punched him in the gut repeatedly; blood was pouring from his nose and soaking his shirt and he looked to be barely conscious. Sora was on the ground, holding his middle and trying to curl up in a ball against the vicious kicks and stomps he was receiving. Kairi was thankful that Vincent and Leon weren't taking part, but she was a little irritated that they weren't trying to help.

Kairi broke free of Yuffie in her adrenaline rush and dashed into the fray, pushing people away with all of her might. She threw herself over Sora's body to shield him, screaming for them to leave him alone as he groaned in agony on the ground below. His face was covered in blood and scratches that Kairi knew would bruise later, and his eyes blazed when he saw her.

"K-Kairi . . . Get out of h-here!" he shouted, but it came too late.

Suddenly, Kairi was hauled up by the back of her shirt and punched in the face so vehemently that she lost her vision and could hardly breathe for the pain. She staggered backward and fell to her knees, clutching her nose in shock. She only had a moment's reprieve before Lenne was suddenly there with some other guy, taking advantage of her position and kicking her whiel she was down.

"Kairi!" she heard Sora cry from where he was lying on the ground a ways away, followed by a loud, "Hey!" from Leon.

Leon came dashing over, shoving the guy who was attacking Kairi away. He dropped to the ground and pulled Kairi away from where Lenne was while Vincent held Lenne back. Everything was a blur for Kairi now—she was seeing in doubles and triples and she hadn't felt this sort of pain in what felt like ages. But still, all she could think of was Sora. She shoved Leon off and limped over to him, pushing away the last of the gang members and kneeling beside him.

"Wh-What did they do?" he growled, holding his stomach with one hand while pushing himself into a sitting position with the other. One of his eyes was swollen shut, though it was partially shielded by his chin-length bangs. "Who hurt you?"

Kairi was unable to reply because in the next second, they were surrounded by people again. They set into them with zeal, and all Kairi could do was scream in pain and terror. She briefly felt Sora throwing his arm around her and rolling over to protect her from as many blows as he could. Kairi couldn't even think about protecting him herself—she could only clutch at his shirt and wait until it was over.

Finally, after what felt like ages, they backed off, laughing derisively about how much "fun" it had ended up being. They practically skipped off to their cars, leaving nobody but Leon and Yuffie behind. Even Rinoa and Vincent had left in their own cars.

Sora was completely unconscious, and it was a struggle for Kairi's aching, bruised arms to push him off of her as gently as she could and lay him down. He was a wreck, and from the rattling breaths he was taking, something was wrong with his ribs (or worse). Her eyes slid beyond him to where Leon and Yuffie were checking Vanitas's pulse and giving him CPR.

Wait . . . CPR?!

"Vani!" Kairi screamed, dragging herself to her feet and dashing over to him as her shock and adrenaline kicked in again, causing her to forget her wounded state. She felt tears falling down her face. This couldn't be happening. Not again. Namine, Roxas, and now Vanitas? She couldn't let this happen . . . !

Sora wouldn't be able to take it.

"Vanitas, wake up!" Kairi begged, kneeling with his head in her lap. His eyes were shut, his face was still stained with blood, but he wasn't moving.

"He's not breathing!" Yuffie cried. "Leon, help him!"

"I'm trying!" Leon shouted back, sounding determined and angry at the same time. He was doing everything he could—chest compressions, mouth-to-mouth . . . Vanitas wasn't responding.

Kairi's sobs were becoming hysterical as she held Vanitas's face and pleaded with him to open his eyes. His spiky black hair was matted with his own blood and from the looks of it, he'd even lost a couple teeth. She glanced over her shoulder, where Sora was still lying knocked out on his back and her heart broke, If Vanitas didn't open his eyes . . . Sora would be heartbroken. There would be no coming back from this.

If Kairi lost Vanitas, she would lose Sora, too.

"V-Vanitas," she sobbed. "Please wake up! Please!"

"Yuffie, get your phone and call 911," Leon said, still performing CPR diligently.

"I left it at home!" Yuffie cried.

"Then go run into the mall!" he hollered. "Go, go, go!"

The short ravenette took off like a lightning bolt, going as fast as possible toward the nearest mall entrance to get help. Kairi could do nothing but wait and pray and hope that Vanitas would be okay. She had known this was the worst idea. She had known that this would end badly. Why couldn't they have listened to her?

Why was Lenne so right? Kairi really was the cause of all this.

Kairi needed to fight her own battles.

Gently setting Vanitas's head down while Leon continued to try to bring him to consciousness, Kairi pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened Xion's text message. She began to type out a reply to Xion with every intention of telling her to meet up when Leon suddenly cried out.

"There's a pulse!" he exclaimed. "He's got a pulse!"

Ecstatic, Kairi put her phone away and ran back over to where Vanitas was. He was stirring slightly, his face twisting in pain as his mind and body seemed to reconnect that he had been severely beaten. Kairi smoothed his hair back.

"Vani, it's me, Kairi," she said soothingly to calm him as his eyelids fluttered open. "You're gonna be okay. Yuffie is getting help."

"S-Sora," Vanitas mumbled, his eyelids still twitching. "Where is Sora . . . ? S-Something is wrong with him!"

Leon scrambled to his feet and went over to Sora, leaving Kairi to try to make Vanitas comfortable. She looked up at the sound of Yuffie calling their names and bringing a few security guards with her. Relief flooded through through her as-

"Sora's not breathing, either!" Leon screamed, looking at Kairi with panic in his eyes. "He was breathing and he said your name, Kairi, and then he passed out. Now his heart isn't beating!"

'Sora's . . . Not breathing . . .?'

~x~

A/N: HOLY POOP WHAT IS GONNA HAPPEN?!

Who knows?

I dont

You'll find out, muahahaha!