PROJECT: TEENAGE WASTELAND
XXX | just like old times

Sora meets Kairi's gaze, and the determination in her indigo eyes is intense enough to send shockwaves through him.

"Five-hundred munny!" Xion exclaims into the mic. "How generous! Do I hear five-hundred and twenty-five?"

Her voice only echoes against a shocked silence.

"Going once… going twice…" When Xion receives no response, she proudly announces Kairi as the highest bidder. "Sold to Kairi Hart!"

Cheers and applause sound all around them, but their surroundings blur and muffle into nothingness. Despite the distance between them, all Sora sees is Kairi, and all she can see is Sora.

Xion gives her closing remarks, and before she knows it, Kairi finds herself standing backstage with all the other highest bidders to claim her Oathkeeper. She gets on her tippy toes in search for Sora amidst the crowd, but Riku finds her first.

"Well that was unexpected," he comments, his tone clearly amused. "I'm guessing you've figured out your new approach?"

Kairi nods, and there's an air of confidence about her that convinces Riku that whatever she has in store will work.

"Well," he says when he sees their mutual best friend approaching. "Good luck then."

Kairi thanks him as he leaves and turns to find Sora walking towards her still dressed in his police officer getup from the last performance, but for someone dressed in something so suggestive, he looks awfully cute and pleasantly surprised.

"Kairi," he greets breathily, almost as if he can't believe what just happened really did happen. "Wh… how did you even get that munny?"

Kairi giggles into her hand. Of all the questions he could've asked, he really had to choose that one first? Still, she divulges.

"I may have participated in some secret underground bot fighting with Olette and Hayner," she answers with a secretive finger to her lips.

Sora's eyes widen at first, but then he tips his hat and says with his best attempt at a southern drawl, "Why Ms. Hart, that's illegal."

Kairi crosses her arms and challenges him with a teasing smirk. "Do we have a problem here, Officer Takeuchi?"

Sora chuckles—music to Kairi's ears. "No, but that could seriously get you arrested."

Kairi merely shrugs. "I know, but it was worth the risk."

"Yeah," Sora says while running a hand through his hair after removing his hat. "Speaking of that, why did you…"

"Ah ah," Kairi reprimands, wagging her index finger in his face. "I was promised a baking lesson, so I'd like to get to that, please. But if you don't mind, we need to make a few stops on the way home."

It's then that Sora notices the backpack that she has slung over one of her shoulders and arches a brow in suspicion. He shrugs and rolls with it, nonetheless.

"All right, I'll bite. Just let me get changed first," he suggests. Kairi nods in agreement (it wasn't exactly easy thinking straight when he had that costume on), but just as he begins walking in the other direction, he suddenly turns back around to face her. "Oh, and Kairi…"

Her cheeks grow hot as his eyes practically devour her from top to bottom.

"Nice dress, by the way."

When Sora rejoins Kairi, she's pleased to see him dressed in a red plaid button up, dark jeans, and his signature yellow sneakers. To the outside observer, one may have assumed that the two of them were going on a date, but even if that weren't really the case, she's happy just to have him to herself for the night.

"So where to?" he asks, head adorably cocked to the side. Kairi merely points at the hanging coaster behind him—the same one that they had ridden on the day the first episode of Teenage Wasteland had been released.

"Just trust me," Kairi says when Sora looks at her questioningly. They walk towards the ride and, given that the benefit concert had ended only moments ago, aren't surprised to find that the lineup seemingly stretched on for ages.

"As enjoyable as this thirty-second ride was, I don't think I'm down to wait three hours for it," Sora confesses while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well luckily for you I have no intention of actually going on it," Kairi says, much to Sora's confusion.

She chuckles at the look on his face and leads him to the side of the entrance. Her eyes glance ever so slightly at a nearby bush and Sora turns to find a bright but narrow decorative box hidden inside. Curious, he takes the box and finds a small envelope addressed to him resting on top of it. Upon recognizing the writing as Kairi's, Sora opens the flap of the envelope, pulls out the note inside, and begins to read the neatly handwritten message.

I thought this would be a good place to start
Because here is where Teenage Wasteland first broke Kairi Hart.
To cheer her up Sora Takeuchi brought some cotton candy
Only to have everyone accuse her of being too princess-y.
But Sora reminded her who she was and assured her it was all just pretend
So that's when Kairi decided that they could still be friends.
You once made me go on a scavenger hunt of my own
So now it's your turn to find all our summer milestones.

Sora lowers the note to reveal a very touched look on his face. Suddenly they are sixteen again and on their first official date, but with a few key differences: they were no longer sixteen (nor were they a couple), they were no longer home on Destiny Islands, and their roles had been reversed.

"Kairi, what is this?" he asks while holding up the note, unable to fight an oncoming smile.

"Open the box and you'll find out," she answers.

Sora does as he's told and finds two things inside: a chocolate bar, and another folded note on top. Fighting the urge to immediately go for the chocolate, Sora opens the note instead (and thankfully so, because it looked like he'd be needing it later).

Congratulations! You've found the first ingredient.
You can find the rest if you're both willing and obedient.

At the first two lines, Sora's eyes meet with Kairi's.

"So I'm looking for our baking ingredients?" he asks with raised eyebrows. With her hands laced behind her back, Kairi nods as if saying that's right. His smile broadens as he proceeds with reading his first clue.

The next one is in a place full of games.
Because of a bet, Hayner almost made us insane.
We almost gave up, but he was foolhardy
'Cause we totally ended up kicking his ass at Dance Party.

"So what do you say?" Kairi asks while slipping the backpack off her shoulders. "Are you up for the challenge?"

Sora takes the backpack and stuffs the first box inside in response.

"Heck yeah," he answers, excitement flickering in his eyes. "Let's do this."

At Arcadia, the elevator doors part at the second floor of the entertainment complex to the smell of gloriously greasy pizza and the clang of arcade games. Without a second thought, Sora makes a beeline for the Dance Party machine, which is currently unoccupied. Beneath its multi-coloured spotlights, Sora confidently searches for another decorative box and eventually finds it hidden beneath the stage.

He opens the box, which is much smaller than the first, to find a small bottle of vanilla extract and a folded note inside with his second clue.

Hooray! You've found the vanilla extract.
The next ingredient is important, essential in fact.
Through many cars you'll have to navigate past
Hint: you actually stalked me on a date when you were there last.

"Damn, your rhymes are way better than mine," Sora comments while shoving the second box into the backpack.

Kairi chuckles at the compliment. She had been up for most of the night writing them, so it was nice to hear that her work was appreciated. "Thanks. Do you know where you're headed next?"

"The drive-in theatre, obviously," Sora answers, the night he'd shamelessly followed her on her first date with Tidus still vivid in his mind. His sights then turn to the vibrant neon signage above them that reads Dance Party. "But now that we're here, wouldn't it be a shame not to grace this stage with our stellar moves again?"

Kairi playfully taps her chin in thought. "Hmm. You're right. It would be a shame."

"Well then, shall we?" Sora asks while setting down the backpack and bowing before his dance partner like a gentleman.

"Yes," Kairi answers as he helps her onto the stage. "We shall."

At the beachside drive-in theatre, Sora finds his third ingredient hidden beside the retro-themed concession stand. The decorative box, bigger than the first two, contains a bag of pastry flour and another clue.

Woo! Now you've got the pastry flour.
Soon enough, we'll have ourselves a treat to devour.
At this next place the Zanarkand Abes led an event for charity
But Tidus Clearwater paid a price because of your raging jealousy.

It doesn't take Sora long to figure this one out. In no time, they pull up to the blitzball stadium that hosted the Zanarkand Abes' charity event weeks ago. As expected, it's completely empty given that no event was currently taking place, but still large enough for Sora to struggle in his search for the next ingredient. Finally, he spots the decorative box well-concealed in one of the bleachers, and inside, he's rewarded with applesauce and his next clue.

Yay, you've got the applesauce!
You're really showing this scavenger hunt who's boss.
At your next stop, you found me hurt by the truth
But thankfully in your company I found myself soothed.

Judging by his look of pure concentration, Kairi thinks she has Sora stumped with this one, but back in their trusty golf cart, he surprisingly makes confident turns around the resort. They eventually reach the parking lot of the Mini-Putt Pixar golf course, pay their admission fees (which sparked a bit of an argument over who was paying, but Sora had won when he'd said "You spent five-hundred munny on me tonight. I think I can handle thirty."), and begin making their way through the course.

After passing a Monstropolis-themed hole, Sora and Kairi reach the eighth hole, where the former had previously found the latter sulking on the porch of the house of the movie Up with an empty milkshake in her hands. While Kairi prepares her pink-coloured golf ball at the start of the hole, Sora begins making his way over to the colourful house.

"Well colour me impressed," Kairi can't help but comment when he finds the next ingredient wedged inside the white picket fence. "You remembered."

"Course I did," Sora says while reading the note containing his next clue.

All right, so you've found the cocoa powder!
In the face of a challenge, you certainly aren't a coward.
At the next hiding place, you made me paintball a truck
And it actually felt good, because what Tidus did really sucked.

Sora chuckles. "Ah, this one's easy."

"Perhaps," Kairi says while expertly lining up her putter, "but I bet you can't say the same for beating me at this course."

Sora accepts her challenge by tossing his yellow-coloured golf ball in the air and catching it with a smirk. "You're on."

At the luxurious Clearwater estate, Sora parks the golf cart just before the wrought iron gates. Much to his chagrin, Kairi had hidden the box just below the intercom.

"Boo, no trespassing?" Sora complains. In the passenger seat of the cart, Kairi rolls her eyes as he retrieves the next ingredient, which is a pack of light brown sugar with another note on top.

Great job, you've found the sixth ingredient!
Keep it up, for the end of your hunt is imminent.
At the next spot, we had quite the adventure
We had to fight alongside each other in order to find our treasure.

Sora nods confidently, knowing exactly where to go, but Kairi notices that he lingers in front of the estate for a moment too long.

"Sora?" she questions. His eyes appear to be fixed on Tidus' pickup truck parked beyond the gates.

"You know, it's not too late to pop his tires," he comments, clearly still not over how that lying weasel had hurt his best friend.

"Sora!" Kairi scolds disapprovingly.

He throws his hands up in surrender as he walks back to the cart. "What? I'm just saying."

When Sora and Kairi enter the vast underground coliseum that hosted the resort's first ever Underdrome Tournament, Sora is hesitant to step onto the two glowing platforms in the otherwise empty facility unarmed.

"Relax," Kairi says as she steps onto her platform. "The hosts assured me that they've disabled the spawning of enemies, and you can trust me on that. I wouldn't have been able to hide your box in the simulation otherwise."

Sora slowly steps onto the platform with skittish eyes. "Okay, if you say so."

Once both platforms are activated, the dark underworld around them transforms into the hot and tropical Caribbean, and the two are immediately teleported into the cave in the Huddled Isles where they'd found their treasure. Sora tenses as he recalls Kairi saving him and getting her leg crushed in the process, but Kairi in the present, perfectly healthy and able-bodied, places a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay," she whispers. "Nothing's going to hurt us here."

After a long exhale, she feels his muscles relax beneath her hand before he steps off the platform. He cautiously makes his way to the large ornate treasure chest where he and Kairi had found their blue gem, outstretches his hands to open it, and sighs in relief when a force field doesn't send him flying back. He manages to open the chest without stirring up any trouble, and surely enough, no massive beast spawns when he takes the box that Kairi had hidden into his hands. He finds his next clue folded beneath a salt shaker.

You're almost there, you've found the second last one!
Just one more and this hunt will be done.
You'll find the last ingredient in a place with much history
There we formed an agreement, but on my birthday, Tidus also tasted victory.

"So we're headed home, huh?" Sora asks while placing the box into the backpack. If he'd interpreted Kairi's note right, the last ingredient would be somewhere in the backyard of the Disney castle.

"Yes," Kairi answers, but she doesn't fail to notice the distracted look on Sora's face.

"Say," he starts, his sights on something beyond the cave, "before we go, do you think I can take the pirate ship for another spin?"

As if she were fully expecting the question, she bends over to pick something up from behind the treasure chest and presents Sora with the captain's hat he'd worn during the tournament, a spyglass, and their trusty compass. "Of course you can."

"Yes!" Sora cheers while accepting the items gratefully. "You're the best, Kai. Thank you!"

Kairi giggles as he adjusts the hat onto his head and makes a run for the parked ship.

"Let's set sail!"

Back at the Disney castle, Sora parks the car in the backyard in search for the final ingredient. In his mind, he retraces the steps of the obstacle course that Selphie had set up for the duel of hearts on Kairi's seventeenth birthday but comes up empty handed. He then focuses on the pool where they'd formed their bumfuzzle agreement over a night swimming session and eventually finds the final box hidden beneath one of the fake palm trees. He removes the lid, and a bag of chocolate chips and his last note greet him inside.

Congratulations, you've made it to the end!
I expected nothing less from my best friend.
You'll find everything else we need in the kitchen.
It's time for my baking lesson—now let's get to mixin'!

"Hmm," Sora hums as they make their way inside, wondering what in the world Kairi wanted to bake. Judging by the ingredients he'd gathered, it had to be something chocolate-y, but the possibilities were endless; that is, until Kairi pulls the remaining ingredients from the fridge and lays them out on the stainless steel counter.

Sora taps his chin as he tries to make sense of it all. Chocolate, vanilla extract, pastry flour, applesauce, cocoa powder, light brown sugar, salt, chocolate chips, and now, butter, eggs, canola oil, lemon zest, and frozen paopu bits.

To any normal observer, it was all just a mess of baking ingredients, but to Sora, it all becomes shockingly clear.

"Fudgy paopu brownies," he voices in a surprised whisper. His thoughts, as well Kairi's, immediately drift onto the last time he'd offered to bake them for her.

Destiny Islands, one year ago, 1:43PM

In the living room of Sora's family bungalow, sixteen-year-old Kairi sits with her legs sprawled across her boyfriend's lap on the couch. While the former is hard at work finding ideas for their history essay, the latter is just about to doze off, the subject boring him to the point of sleep.

"Ugh," Kairi groans while closing her textbook shut. The sudden sound is enough to startle her boyfriend awake.

"Wha? What happened?" he asks, dazed.

"This essay is stressing me out," his girlfriend whines. "How are we supposed to write five pages worth of content in two days?"

"Oh," Sora says with a pout. It was so like Kairi to take school work seriously, but knowing her, she'd probably manage to hash out the essay in one afternoon; and if she were feeling particularly sorry for his struggles, she'd probably offer to let him sneak a peek at hers to "get ideas", so in reality, she was basically stressing out over both their essays.

Sora suddenly feels bad for his lack of contributions. They were supposed to be working together, but all he'd managed to do was fall asleep within the first hour. He had to help somehow. His sights then turn to the kitchen, and the oven sparks an idea within him. Studying may not have been his strong suit, but baking was.

"How about I make you some brownies?" he suggests while massaging her feet. "Would that help with the stress?"

The words are out of her mouth before she can control them.

"Yes," she answers with a relieved sigh at the very thought of her boyfriend's irresistible fudgy paopu brownies. "Thank you. I love you. You're the best."

Sora freezes and stops massaging her feet at once. If he was sleepy then, he was certainly wide awake now. After realizing what she'd just said, Kairi's heart drops to her stomach.

She had just said I love you.

As best friends, saying those words was a normal occurrence between them, but they were no longer just best friends. No, they were boyfriend and girlfriend now, and that was the first time any of them had uttered those three words since they'd become official.

Oh my gosh, Kairi thinks, mortified as she curls into a ball and hides her face in her textbook. She'd ruined it.

By opening her mouth and blabbing, she'd completely ruined what was supposed to be a romantic milestone in their relationship. Years of pining for one another should've warranted a squeal-worthy moment, but thanks to her slip up, this is how the big "I love you" came out. Truth be told, the both of them silently expected Sora to be the one to say it first during a romantic walk on the beach or something, but no. Kairi just had to run her mouth and say it while they were doing homework of all things. Homework!

If there was a prize for the most unromantic "I love you", she'd win it, hands down.

"Kairi?" Sora asks, his voice soft. His girlfriend keeps her textbook raised over her face, too embarrassed to look him in the eye, but Sora makes an effort to lower it gently.

If Kairi's cheeks were hot before, they were burning now at the look of pure joy and adoration on her boyfriend's face.

"I love you too," he whispers, his voice tender and intimate. He leans in to plant a kiss on her lips, and all at once, Kairi's qualms and initial panic melt away. With their lips still touching, she feels him pry her textbook away so that he can intertwine both their hands together. His thumbs run over the backs of her hands, comforting and gentle, and Kairi sighs as he sets her nerves on fire.

When he pulls away, Kairi feels herself return to reality and flushes under his warm gaze. He suddenly begins to giggle, and Kairi has never felt so confused in her life.

"Wait, Sora, you're not upset?" she asks.

Now it's Sora's turn to look confused. "Why would I be upset? My girlfriend just told me that she loved me. I'm ecstatic!"

Kairi fights the strong urge to squeeze his cheeks because damn it, that excited puppy dog look was just too cute on him.

"But I… I just said it over homework," she recalls plaintively. "We're not in a romantic setting or anything."

Sora arches a brow. "So? I actually prefer that you did it that way. The way it just came out of you so naturally and easily… well, it was romantic to me."

Kairi's belly flutters at his words. Leave it to Sora to make a miserable failure sound like a total win.

"Besides, I don't need some fancy, candlelit setting for romance," he says while caressing her cheek. "All I need, all I'll ever need, is you."

And for the second time that afternoon, Kairi melts against him as he captures her lips in another euphoric kiss, homework be damned.

Back in the present, seventeen-year-old Kairi holds up a metal baking pan as seventeen-year-old Sora pours the brownie batter, which they'd carefully mixed together, into it. With a spatula, he demonstrates how to spread the batter evenly around the pan, and when he deems it ready, he helps Kairi pop it into the oven.

"So," Sora starts as he begins piling up the kitchenware they'd used on the counter. "Not that I'm complaining about our trip down memory lane, but why did you plan all this tonight?"

Beside him, Kairi gulps. Honestly, she was hoping that he'd be so overcome with emotion at some point during the scavenger hunt or while baking that he would miraculously come to the realization that they should've been together, but clearly those emotional tactics weren't enough for him to make a move. No, it was clear to her now that, in order to get him to see her in a romantic light again, she'd have to be the one to make a move; she would have to confess; she would have to tell him what she wanted, because there was no hiding it now.

True, the kitchen wasn't exactly the most romantic place for a confession, but as he'd told her once before, they didn't need a fancy, candlelit setting for romance. All she needed, all she ever needed, was him. Besides, Sora liked her most when she was herself, and honesty was a large part of who she was; and as Riku had reminded her, Kairi Hart was a hard worker, so naturally, when she wanted something, she went for it.

So she goes for it.

"Sora, I… I want you back."

He noticeably loses his grip on the mixing bowl that he has in his hands at the confession.

"I'm sorry it's taken me this long to realize it," she apologizes when he remains paralyzed with shock, "but breaking up with you before I left for Radiant Garden was a mistake. I never should've let you go, and I never should've given up on us so easily—not when you were so willing to fight."

For a moment he can't meet her eyes, which begin to cloud with tears at the overwhelming amount of affection she feels for him.

"It's a lesson I had to learn the hard way, but now I understand: the pain of not being with you is far far worse than being physically apart," Kairi professes. "I want you to be mine, Sora. I treasure every moment we share together, especially the ones we had last summer, and I shouldn't have let three thousand miles get in the way of that. I'm sorry."

Sora remains eerily quiet at her revelation. For the first few moments Kairi interprets it as shock, but when his lack of responsiveness reaches awkward territory, panic sets in her like wildfire.

"I… I'm sorry," she stammers, the words coming out weaker this time round. "I shouldn't have said anything. You're seeing Shiki now, so it was completely selfish and stupid of me to–"

"Kairi," Sora says, interrupting her. He finally raises his eyes to meet with hers. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you to tell me that?"

Relief immediately washes over her, but a hint of confusion remains. "Wh-what? But what about Shiki?"

Sora shakes his head with a chuckle—something that catches Kairi off guard, because what the hell was so funny? He had been so pensive just a second ago.

"Shiki and I were never actually dating," he confesses.

It suddenly becomes Kairi's turn to seize in shock.

"Excuse me?" she asks, pleading for clarification.

"We just agreed to go out on dates and pretend we were seeing each other," Sora explains, pure amusement in his features. "You see, when she and I spoke at the top three photoshoot, we discovered that we were in the same boat: head over heels for our love interests, but just waiting for them to fess up. So we figured that to give them some incentive, we could work together to try and make them jealous. In her case, it was for Neku Sakuraba, and for me, it was you."

"Wh… so… you…" Kairi wheezes in disbelief. "You and Shiki were never…?"

Sora shakes his head, the warmth returning to his gaze. "There's only you, Kairi."

Her throat goes dry at the confession, and her insides pulse when he takes a step towards her.

"It's always just been you," he whispers. He leans in to kiss her, but just as his lips ghost over hers, she unexpectedly punches him on the shoulder.

"Ow!" he yelps, holding his shoulder in pain. "What the heck was that for?"

"You buttsack!" Kairi cries. "You fake-dated someone just to make me jealous?"

"Well it worked, didn't it?" he argues. Kairi huffs indignantly, and he immediately knows he's right. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"B-but you two kissed!" Kairi sputters.

"Purely as a last resort! We figured you and Neku were on the ropes, so we thought to, you know, up the ante. If it's any consolation, I didn't enjoy the kiss, but I did enjoy your reaction."

Kairi shakes her head, still trying to register it all. "I can't believe you were faking it this entire time. And to think I actually stressed myself out trying to get your attention!"

"You didn't need to do anything for my attention. You've always had it," Sora assures. "All you ever had to do was say the word and I would've been yours in a heartbeat."

A beat passes, and when Kairi finally gets over her initial shock and anger, she finds it in herself to lock eyes with Sora. Despite the small space between them, she feels the sensation of being pinned just by his gaze alone.

"So can I kiss you now, or are you going to hit me again?" he asks. This time, Kairi is the one who walks forward. Her hands rest comfortably on his chest, and beneath them, she feels Sora's heart hammering against her palms.

"I'll hit you if you don't kiss me," she answers.

His smile broadens. "Well, in that case…"

He leans in, but he doesn't only claim her lips with his. In one fluid motion, he claims her cheek in his hand, her hip with the other, and her heart beating rapidly against his. In one fluid motion, she becomes his, and he becomes hers entirely. By pure instinct, Kairi's hands make their way to the back of his neck, and she surprisingly finds herself having to get on her tippy toes. She'd never had to do that while kissing him before, but it had been a year since their lips had last touched.

Unable to help herself, a whimper escapes her at the passion behind Sora's kiss. When she'd imagined doing this, she'd pictured a sweet, caring peck, but his mouth is unyielding and needy against hers, almost as if he were in a dream that could end at any moment. As if to confirm her suspicions, Sora desperately clings to her even when he parts for air.

"This is real, right?" he whispers breathily. "I'm not dreaming?"

Kairi can't help the giggle that escapes her. Knowing him, he'd probably been waiting for this moment for ages, so for it to finally come to fruition must have been overwhelming.

"This is real," she confirms, much to his relief. "You're not dreaming, Sora."

"Thank goodness," he whispers, and his lips waste no time in finding hers once again. This time, however, both his hands rest on her hips, and Kairi squeaks when his grip suddenly tightens to lift her off the ground and onto the countertop behind her. "Okay?" he murmurs against her lips, making sure that she was comfortable with his actions.

Kairi nods, her way of saying more than okay, and the two shamelessly indulge in more long-awaited kisses, unable to get enough. Sora's hands lovingly run up Kairi's sides, and gooseflesh erupts in the wake of his fingertips. His hands reach upward to caress her face again, and with one hand on her shoulder and the other on the back of her head, he gently cranes her neck to the side to plant slow, sensual kisses on her exposed flesh. He feels her throaty, encouraging moan on his lips and the sound, which fills his ears like the most addicting song he's ever heard, is enough to send him over the edge.

Without warning, he suddenly lifts her off the countertop and throws her over his shoulder.

"Sora!" Kairi shrieks in the midst of giggles. He carries her out of the kitchen, and a short distance later, he unlocks the door to the left wing lounge with his master key card and eagerly sets Kairi down on the plush, velvet couch in the middle of the room to continue where they'd left off.

A blissfully eternity later, Kairi lays on top of Sora on the velvet couch, the fireplace the latter had lit in front of them bathing them both in a warm, comforting light.

"So," she starts while tracing lazy circles on his chest, "just wanted to confirm, but I'm taking the last two hours of making out as a yes to being boyfriend and girlfriend again?"

"Yes," Sora answers almost immediately. "Hell yes."

He then begins to plant little kisses on her cheek, her forehead, and every inch of skin he can possibly reach.

"You're mine, Kairi Hart," he growls possessively, and Kairi can't help but chuckle at his adorable overprotectiveness.

"Yes Sora, I'm yours," she confirms, pleasing him. "And you're mine."

"I always have been," he reminds, and a shiver runs down her spine when he plants a chaste kiss on her lips.

"So I've just realized something," she says when she regains the ability to speak.

"That you're breathtaking in firelight?" Sora guesses while gazing at her lovingly. "I've known that for a while now."

She playfully hits his chest but finds herself flattered by the compliment. "Thank you, but I was actually going to say that I just realized you've been faking it for the last little while. What else have you faked? You almost kissed me during fake prom at the Atlantica water park. All this time I thought that you were just too drunk to realize what you were doing that night, but were you really?"

Sora's lips form a hard line at the memory. "Right, that... I totally knew what I was doing."

"Aha, so you do remember it!" Kairi accuses. "You liar… you told me it was all a blur the following morning!"

"I had to!" Sora argues. "The alcohol almost gave me away. That night in the pool, I wanted to kiss you right then and there so bad, and I probably would've if that security guard hadn't shown up, so luckily he forced us out when he did."

Kairi rolls her eyes. "Right, luckily."

"Hey, I didn't want to kiss you until you expressed that you wanted me to," Sora explains.

"Fair, but surely my raging jealousy was obvious to you by then?"

Sora grins. "Oh yes. It was really fun watching you squirm."

Kairi hits his chest again, this time while muttering "buttsack" under her breath.

"Although I have to say that I especially enjoyed some of the outfits," Sora assures cheekily. "In fact, I really wouldn't mind if you wore that dress with the apron again."

Kairi props herself up on her elbow and arches an eyebrow at him questioningly. "Did that even work on you? You were practically ignoring me the entire time, not to mention the fact that you didn't react at all when we were playing volleyball…"

"Well maybe if you played close enough attention you would've realized that it was because I was sporting a really uncomfortable boner on both occasions," Sora confesses shamelessly. "You were downright sinful, Kairi. It was killing me."

And just when Kairi thinks that it wasn't possible to blush even more, her cheeks flush an even darker shade of pink.

"Not that you have to dress like that to spark my interest," Sora assures. "I still stand by the fact that I would be fatally attracted to you even if you were dressed in a potato sack."

Kairi throws her head back with a laugh. Sora, ever the charming one.

"Noted, but I wouldn't mind dressing to impress for you," she coos.

"Speaking of which…" Sora starts as his hand glides up her back to rest on the zipper of her dress. "Do you mind? As much as I love this dress, I've been dying to tear it off you all night."

The words, low and seductive in delivery, send vibrations throughout Kairi's entire body. She nods, desperate to have less layers in between them to recall the feeling of his bare skin against hers, but just before Sora can pull the zipper down, the sound of a distant fire alarm starts ringing in their ears.

"Oh shit!" Sora curses. "The brownies!"

And at the sight of her boyfriend immediately getting up and hastily running for the door, Kairi can't help but giggle and smile like a lovestruck teenager into a nearby pillow.

Kairi Hart is 'in a relationship' with Sora Takeuchi. (5 minutes ago)

Riku Kenbishi, Roxas Akiyama, Olette Lovet, Tidus Clearwater and 20 others reacted to this.

Riku Kenbishi (10 seconds ago): FINALLY.

tbc

Chapter inspirations: Why Don't You Love Me (feat. Demi Lovato) by Hot Chelle Rae, Midnight by Liam Payne and Alesso, We Can Try by Between the Trees, and Teenage Dream by Katy Perry.

Fun fact: In the original Teenage Wasteland, Sora and Kairi also got together in the thirtieth chapter with the same name.

A/N: Did I do it? Did I live up to the expected level of floof?! I'm really hoping so. As you can probably tell by the quicker update, I was really excited to get this one out. It's shorter than most chapters, but it was 5800 words of pure SoKai fun. I was going for a sweet, playful, and steamy vibe, all of which I associate with their dynamic/relationship. Did it work for you? Too fast? Too slow? Too descriptive? Not descriptive enough? Too many feels? Not enough feels? I must know!

Weirdly enough, in my original notes, I actually didn't have the scavenger hunt included (which was a huge chunk of this chapter). As mentioned before, it was something I thought of in the middle of writing the previous chapter, but I have to admit it was fun coming up with Kairi's clues. I don't typically write things like that, so it was a good challenge for me, and I thought it was a good way to recap all of the SoKai milestones in the story. I know there were more scenes revolving around them, but I decided to choose the big ones, and there were only so many ingredients that Kairi could hide!

Also, I totally did not intend on the nod towards the ingredient hunting in KH3. The amount of times Donald nagged me about it in-game was almost enough for me to toss my controller at the TV. Not sure if I ever told you guys, but at one point during the World of Tres orchestra concert (back when concerts were still a thing), I was starting to get real emotional, and my boyfriend decided that it was an appropriate time to whisper "This looks like a good place to find some ingredients" into my ear. Still haven't forgiven him, lol.

Special thanks to Mr. Spinner, Tyjet Ansatsu, and Aundielen for reviewing the last chapter! Sorry if I missed or misspelled any pen names. I also notice that a lot of you are pretty quiet, but the hits are there, so just know that I know you're reading and that I appreciate it!

I hope you all enjoyed the thirtieth installment of Project: Teenage Wasteland! Please kindly leave a review to share your thoughts and/or feels, I apologize for any grammar errors that I might have missed, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!

xoKyorii