This is where he's sitting now, at a shady corner hidden in the sushi restaurant, waiting for his best friend to finish up her shift before he could finally tell her what happened to him.

But she was out somewhere, working the tables, managing the bills, or maybe making sushi for the customers over at the bar.

Riku had to laugh. The thought of Kairi doing anything that involves creating, cooking, or cutting was just too much to handle; the poor girl could barely make her own cup of tea without tearing down the kitchen. Needless to say, she wasn't a very good cook, but she did have a way with the people. That was one of the reasons why he liked her, other than the fact that they had been childhood friends since they were infants. Maybe the fact that Riku's mother and Kairi's mother were best friends (forever) since high school also had something to do with the fact that they became fast friends, but hey, who's counting?

After what had seemed to be an eternity of sitting alone in a booth and sipping cola, Kairi finally appeared from outside the kitchen, her pony tail oddly misshapen and the pocket in her apron dangling with the sound of coins and a slight flash of green.

"That big party over there gives really good tips." She huffed, sweat pouring down her temples.

"Yeah, I can tell."

"So, what's up?"

Kairi sat down on the red cushion of the booth, her hand slowly slithering over to grab Riku's drink while he watched in annoyance as she snatched it away and finished up what was left of it. Then she looked at him expectantly, waiting for time to tell her the news.

"I ... met someone. You know that guy that I kept telling you about? The one at the park--"

"'--With the pretty brown hair, a color much sweeter than chocolate, that is so cute because it constantly spikes up in random places, and not to mention that he has the most beautiful eyes.' Yes, you've told me." She smirked, watching Riku slowly blush.

"I'm going out on a date with him this Friday."

"Ahh, the budding of a first love! Rikky-poo, I'm so proud of you!" She mocked, punching Riku lightly on the shoulder, "You got over your fear and asked him out! For this achievement, I'll buy you a sundae at the ice cream shop next door and we'll celebrate!"

"Actually, he asked me out. I just sat there and said yes." Sheepishly, Riku blushed, his fingers fighting with each other as he nervously waited for Kairi to react. He could feel the lecture rumbling from beneath the earth, it's massive force was something to be reckoned with.

"You what? Haven't I told you that no one likes a pushover? You gotta be confident! You have to be cocky sometimes to get what you want, otherwise someone else just might steal it away from you!" Kairi's voice elevated as she became absorbed in her speech, her hands clenched in emotional fists as she banged on the table and passionately lectured Riku about his passiveness. "You may have been lucky this time, but who knows? Next time, you might not be so lucky!"

"So what should I do?"

"You need to be confident! By the way, what was his name again?"

"Sora." Riku said, his tongue cleanly pronouncing the two syllables, letting the name ring out loud and clear.

"Last name? Come on, give me the details!" Kairi's face broke out in a sly smile as he prodded Riku with her finger. It was just like to her act like such a ... a girl! Not that Riku minded much; even if she was slightly annoying, she was always full of good advice that she gathered from the young women's magazines. There was no way that Riku would be caught dead reading those dratted things.

"I don't know what his last name is, but I do know that he has a cousin named Tidus."

"...Are you serious?" Her face dropped and the color melted from her livid face as she stared at Riku in disbelief. Then she coughed, a loud and hacking dry cough, as she diverted her eyes from Riku and turned to stare at the blue carpet instead.

"Kairi, what's wrong? You look like you're a zombie." He had seen this before. Kairi only adverts her eyes when she knows something and doesn't want to tell anyone. By not looking at their faces, Kairi tries to avoid the subject all together. Riku knows this, that's why he's worried.

"Did I ever tell you about the four guys at my school that are fabulously popular, filthy rich, freakin' smart, and so fu--"

"--cking beautiful, yes I know. The Famous Four that happen to rule over your school by dominating the academics, the school government, sports, and who knows what else. What about them?" Riku rolled his eyes; he had heard so many stories about them from Kairi, from how rich four boys were (supposedly they'll be billionaires at the tender age of eighteen), to how smart they were (each one excelling in either math, science, history, or English and each one of them was a top student in their own right), to how chiseled their body and facial structures were (one of then had won a pageant), and finally, to how popular they were, popular to win any election that involved the voice of the students at school. Of course Riku had heard of them, where was no one in this city who hadn't!

"Sora's one of them."

"He's what?" Riku stared at Kairi, wondering if this was revenge for what he did at her last birthday party. No matter how many times he told her that the jelly somehow climbed into her shoe, she never believed him. Her face was so still, it was etched in stone, and her face, still livid and deathly. After a few moments on this intense silent, Riku relaxed a bit, allowed himself to slink into the booth, "I mean, so what if he's in that Famous Four? From what I heard, these guys don't sound so bad."

"Riku, you've never been to my school. You don't know the havoc those guys cause." Kairi sighed and then inhaled, breathing what seemed to be her first breath in ages. Then, she started again, this time her voice was in a low deep voice, sounded like it came from misesteems hidden in the depths of the sea. "Have you read 'Hana Yori Dango'? You know, that one manga..."

Riku shook his head and Kairi sighed even louder.

"It's this story about this poor girl who goes to this rich elite school that's controlled by the Four Flowery Boys who are super rich, therefore they make nearly all the decisions in the school and stuff. They also target those that they don't like by placing a red tag on their locker and once the rest of the school sees that red tag on someone's locker, that person becomes a social outcast at that school, being constantly bullied on and seen as trash. That's what happens to the heroine." Again, she sighed. "And that's what happens at our school."

"So you're telling me that my love interest is part of the Famous Four, a group of notorious boys who are rich, popular, smart, and prettier than any girl I've ever met--"

"I resent that." Kairi interjected.

"--and that I should be careful around Sora because he could be a big meanie like those guys in that manga you've read?"

"Riku, you're my best friend. I just don't want you to get hurt."

It was Riku's turn to sigh. He stared at the newfangled lamp that was dangling from the ceiling and tried to digest this new revelation that Kairi had bestowed upon him. Surely it won't be that bad. Sora seemed like such a nice person at the park, he didn't look like he had a bad bone in him. And that part about the swinging hitting Riku didn't count, because that was unintentional.

"I'll keep your words in mind Kairi, thanks."

"You're welcome, so are we still going to get a sundae to celebrate? After all, this is your first date, even if you didn't do the asking. My treat!"

Riku smiled. "Sure, and I want a double scoop on mine!"

- - - - - - - - - -

Sora sat in the cafe of the bookstore, calmly sipping his (highly caffeine) coffee concoction while scanning through a rather large and impressive book. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Cloud walking up to him, with bags of clothes from the Armani Exchange in hand.

"Sora, we're not in school today, so you can stop playing smart for now." He took a glance at the book and then cringed, "You're reading a book on past world civilizations?"

"Yep. I find the world of samurais and sword fighting just so exciting. Especially," Sora lifted a comic book that was buried deep within the pages of the world history textbook, "if it's fictional."

"Smart. I always knew my friend was a genius in disguise."

"Only if I have to be." He smiled as he took another sip, then moved a chair for Cloud to sit.

"Come on, we gotta go. The other two are waiting for us. By the way, where were you yesterday? I called your house and you weren't home, and then I called your cell, but you turned it off."

Sora shook the contents of his drink, watching as the ice mixed over with the coffee until everything became a creamy, sort of murky brown liquid. "I was out, in the park."

"Doing what?"

"Something. Are you ready to go or should I leave you here?" He stood up, leaving his reading material on the table with the hordes of napkins that he had taken earlier and the outer wrapping of the straw crunched furiously into a ball. Then the two of them left the bookstore and headed out to meet the other two.

----

Notes: I'm in a dilemma. I don't know who the other two members of the "Famous Four" should be. And ... I totally ripped off that idea from Hana Yori Dango, so HYD fans, don't kill me.

(You know, if you add a 'E' to HYD, you get HYDE. :D Sorry, I'm a HYDE fan.)

So email me if you see any errors that I have missed, or if you have any questions. Just be sure to put in the subject "KH FICTION" or something so it'll grab my attention. Don't worry, I don't bite.