Disclaimer: It's kind of obvious that I didn't come up with Kingdom Hearts. It is a game and this is a written story that I have put on This story is about the noble Sora who comes back to Destiny Islands to see Kairi (or stay with her…). Will she still love him and will he find himself falling for the Girls Next Door…

Ch. 5 Lacia

Sora walked towards the office of Destiny High. He needed to reregister in order to attend his classes. His mom had dropped him off a few minutes ago after he told her that he wanted to come back to school. He noticed that as he made his way through the halls people were looking at him either strangely or welcoming.

He was somewhat nervous…Sora hadn't remembered half the kids that he had seen walking to their lockers and classes. He wondered if they had magically multiplied in the few years he had been away. He opened the door to the large office and attendance area. And made his way to the secretary's desk.

"Just a moment please…" the woman behind the desk paused and pressed a button on the phone. "Hello, Destiny High School…let me connect you to the attendance line." She switched back to the line she was previously on and continued talking. "Hello, yes…I'm sorry, Mr. Mania is not in the office right now, can you please call his line in a little while? Thank you."

Sora put his hands in his pockets and waited patiently for the woman to notice him. He looked at her nameplate to find it was "Mrs. Allen." After a few minutes she set the receiver down and looked up at him.

"Yes, young man?" he scowled as she addressed him as such.

"I'm here to register," he said plainly.

She sighed heavily and pointed down a short hallway in the office area. "Second door on your right is Mrs. Chapman's room. She deals with attendance and new students." She waved him away and rolled her eyes. He left the older lady to her work and went the way she directed. He passed three doors on his way and stopped at the one that had, "Mrs. Chapman's office," printed in black across the door.

He rapped on the wood with his knuckles and heard a faint, "come in." he opened the door to a slightly cramped room. It barely held the desk, filing cabinet, and computer that had probably been forced into the room. The plump woman behind the desk smiled and greeted him. "Yes dear?"

"I'm here to register…the woman at the front desk said I should come here." Sora explained.

"Ah, yes. Come on in, don't be shy." Sora took five or six steps forward before he reached the desk. "Alright, I'm going to need your name, date of birth, name of your parents or guardians, your previous school, grade, and a copy of your most recent grade card to date."

Sora paled. His last grade card had been from freshman year, so would that make him only a sophomore? He didn't want to think about it. Being stuck two grades behind Kairi, Tidus, and the others would be really horrible. He decided to lie about it.

"Well, you see…umm. I used to go here and when I moved I took a bunch of my stuff with me. Well, a lot of it got toasted in a…fire! That happened when I was living with my friend." He bit his lip nervously hoping she would buy it. "Um, my name is Sora Harker!"

"Oh, your Alia Harker' s son?"

"Yes!" he said quickly.

"Alright…this will be somewhat easier then." She typed in his name and his parent's names on her weirdly shaped keyboard. "Alright what is your date of birth?"

"September 12, 1987," he answered.

"And did you say you previously took up schooling here?"

"Yes, I did."

"So we already have you on record…let me look for your old grade card so I know if I should put you in advanced or integrated classes." She searched through old file records on the computer for a few minutes before finally looking up at him strangely. "Yes, let's see. You were a very good student here. Honor roll, mostly A's, held in high regards with most teachers, and…missing…"

"Huh?" Sora said trying to sound dumbfounded.

"Our file says you came up missing a few years back. This was around the same time Kairi Tribal and Riku Valacour mysteriously disappeared I am guessing." Sora sat nervously in his seat waiting for her to try and pry into his business. "Well, I suppose it is good that they found you! Hopefully Mr. Valacour turns up soon." Sora nodded in agreement.

She looked up at Sora to see him playing with the loops of his jeans. "Oh yes, where were we?" She scanned the screen of her computer with her eyes momentarily before picking up where they left off. "You said your files were destroyed in a fire right? Well, according to this you would be a Senior. Since you had such outstanding grades when you previously attended Destiny High I am going to put you in the advanced classes."

He waited a few minutes before she printed something off and handed it to him. She then explained some of the classes to him. "Your Social Sciences class is starting right now, and it is basically a more difficult World History class. Your Calculus class starts in about an hour, and that is limited to only 11th and 12th grade students. Um," she scanned the list of classes with her finger until she stopped on Advanced P.E. "You will be sitting out during this class today until you bring in some suitable clothing. You start swimming next week in there and most boys prefer to where trunks because this is a mixed class. I think that is about it. Any questions?"

"No," he replied shortly.

"Good, off you go then." Sora straightened the strap of his bag and took the few steps back out the door. He looked down at his schedule and sighing made his way to room 203.

When Sora entered Social Sciences every head turned to look at him and he immediately felt a blush creeping up his cheeks. He looked around at them nervously as he walked to the teacher's desk and saw them whispering amongst themselves. He couldn't decipher what they were saying but he caught bits of their conversations.

"Who the hell…?"

"New kid…" he heard a blonde say.

"Looks familiar for some reason…"

"Cute…very cute."

"Whatever…what a loser." Hollered some punk in the back.

"Shut up! A new student!" Sora looked down at the floor as they chattered amongst themselves. When he reached the teacher's desk he waited patiently until the older gentleman would turn to address him. His thinning gray hair seemed to have fallen out a lot over a short period of time and the man was currently absorbed in grading some papers.

"Yes?" he asked without looking up.

"I'm sorry I'm late…I was registering in the office." He turned his head up to look now.

"Oh yes…I hope you enjoy this class. Now what is your name?"

"Sora Harker," he replied.

"I'm Mr. Fayshu and I teach Social Sciences. I guess you can have a seat…" he paused looking at a seating chart. "Behind Vane, he is sitting right there." He gestured to a boy who wore a bright purple shirt. Sora nodded and took his place behind him as Mr. Fayshu got up to address the class.

"So, everyone…we have a new student with us," he gestured to Sora as he talked. "His name is Sora and I hope you make him feel welcome. Now!" he said abruptly, " I want you to take out your 7-3 packets that I handed out yesterday. Pass them forward while I hand out the next section." He grabbed a stack of papers off of table near the chalkboard and turned back around to start handing out the homework. "Oh, and Sora?" Sora looked up at him. "You won't be taking the chapter 7 test. So don't even try to study.' Sora nodded and pulled out a pencil.

Mr. Fayshu told him to try to follow along anyway…he tried, but without writing any of the information down his mind began to wander. He began to fiddle with his pencil, twirling it between his fingers and looking at the students around him. Some of them writing down the notes given and color coding them, while others sat in daze chewing their gum. Sora went back to twirling his pencil when he heard the bell ring, signaling the end of class.

Everyone packed up and he grabbed his book-bag leaving out the door. He looked down at the schedule clamped in his hand and read 'Calculus' as his next class. He looked down at it wondering where on earth he was to head.

"Hey," he said, stopping a boy in front of him. " Do you know where the Calculus room is at?" The boy rolled his eyes and gestured down the hall and then pointed to the right. "Thanks," Sora whispered belatedly as the boy walked away.

Everything that day seemed to be going pretty well, even though lunch started out pretty bad when he was seated alone. That's when he spotted the shock of scarlet hair leaving the Salad Bar line. He saw the red curls; bounce about before finally settling at a table mixed with many girls and boys. He decided he should make his move, after all he had come to fulfill Kairi' s wishes. He stood up and made his way over to her table.

When he arrived he stood behind her for a few moments while her comrades looked at him strangely. He tapped her on the shoulder lightly to get her attention and she turned around to see who had touched her. She looked at him for only a few seconds before jumping up and throwing her arms around his neck.

"Oh my god! I didn't think you would come," she shrieked excitedly. He hugged her small frame to his body as she continued to talk. "I thought you wouldn't have liked the idea of returning to school." She dropped one arm from his neck and slid the other one to the middle of his back, while she turned around to address her friends. "Sorry guys, this is my best friend in the whole world. Sora Harker!" she uttered happily.

"Hey, what's up?" one of them said as the others greeted him with an easy "hello".

"And Sora," she said looking up at him. "These are my friends, and I'll let them introduce themselves because I can't remember their names half of the time.

"Haha! Funny, Kai," she smiled wickedly at the boy speaking and Sora turned his attention to him. He had dark blue hair that was about an inch long and stood on end with a large amount of gel. His eyes were an enigmatic blue with a dark make-up around them, and his complexion was extremely fair. He was wearing black attire with chains and bangles hanging from every which way. Sora could only describe him in two words… unnaturally depressing. But then he smiled at Sora and extended his hand to greet him. Sora grabbed it and shook it uneasily.

"Nice to meet you Sora," he said with a nod of his head. "You and Kairi must go way back. She talks about you a lot." Sora smiled as the feeling of his cheeks turning red overtook. "It is a shame that I had to wait so long to meet her famous childhood friend."

Sora frowned at his last statement. He had never thought of himself as just Kairi' s friend. He had always had a small sort of crush on the girl when they had been little but it had never left his wild spirit…only gotten stronger with time. The boy who had shook his hand interrupted his thoughts.

"By the way, my name is Taiyou. These imbeciles just call my Tai for short though. I'll introduce you to the others since Kairi is to lazy." She playfully slapped his arm as he flopped on to the top of the table and turned to guy that had been sitting next to him. "This is Parkis," who to Sora looked like a jock. "He was somewhat muscular and his suspicions were confirmed when he looked at the girl next to him. She had short, choppy hair and was wearing a letter jacket with the name 'Parkis' across the front. "Terran here is dating Parkis…and," he gestured to the girl next to her. "Anlana is the most scientifically challenged person you will ever meet."

"Oh Shut Up Tai!" She had a sharp little tongue and an icy gaze. "Atleast I don't snort crack when I find life unbearable."

"Hey, hey, hey… that's hitting below the belt my dear. And I must say that I haven't done that in quite awhile…like eight hours." He smiled brightly as Anlana shook her head in contempt. Sora couldn't help the one that spread on his lips. He loved the playful attitudes that they shared in the group. He hoped he could find a way into their silly antics but he didn't plan on staying on the island to long. 'How long had Leon said he could stay?' he wondered. He couldn't remember exactly but knew it would have to be soon. '…a few weeks wasn't it?' He shruggedand was called back into the conversation by Parkis who asked him a question.

"So where did you move back from?" Sora shrugged and shook his head.

"Everywhere…" he said lightly.

"Wait, wait, wait… back up a second," Taiyou said. "You moved from everywhere?"

"No," Sora interjected. "I don't really live anywhere. I travel a lot…for…my obligation."

"What is this…obligation," Terran asked casually.

"I'm…" Sora looked away from her and bit his lip. "I'm really not at liberty to say." Kairi grabbed his arm and looked around the group.

"Sora is a humble little martyr…well, if that is what you call such a pure and modest boy. He could never tell the nature of his little adventures." She flickered a smile that told everyone that she knew something they didn't. Anlana, Parkis, and Terran looked as if to be wondering what these adventures could be, but Taiyou scowled. He flicked a thin, silver chain out of his pocket and began to spin it in an act to occupy his hands.

He sat down to eat the small amount of food he had and Kairi took her seat beside him. Sora could feel a piercing gaze on him the entire time he ate but he kept his eyes averted from the other people around him. Listening to their idle prattle about meaningless things. Well, meaningless to Sora anyway…He didn't want to be here. Kairi' s new friends seemed nice enough but he felt uncomfortable in their presence.

It wasn't the same without Riku sitting beside him. Goading him into some little competition to win Kairi' s affection or make him look like an idiot. Selphie would usually be sitting by Kairi talking about some little romantic thing she would like to do someday. Wakka would be proudly showing off his muscular build…and Tidus would be trying to persuade anyone that would listen that he could never be beaten at a game of war. He smiled to himself thinking of the little group that had once sat in the far corner of the room, waiting for the day to end so they could head out to the little island.

He looked over at Kairi, watching her laugh at something and flicking her hair behind her shoulders. He smiled as she playfully hit Taiyou in the arm as if he had made a joke about her.

The bell rang, shaking Sora from his gaze. He shook his head and grabbed his tray ready to depart. Kairi grabbed him though. "Not so fast slick! Don't I get a hug?" He smiled down at her innocent little pout that had formed on her face.

"Of course you do…" Sora quickly replaced his tray on the table and rapped his arms around the beautiful girl in front of him whose pout had turned into a look of contentment. He placed a quick kiss on her temple and dropped his hands back to his sides before picking up his tray and walking to the trash bin. He missed when Taiyou slipped his hand into Kairi' s and they departed from the room.

Sora walked to his next class somewhat elated that Kairi' s friends seemed to like him and she had even asked him for a hug. He sat down in a chair at the back of the room and tried to listen to the teacher that came in moments later and began to talk about some guy who saved the blah, blah, blah… He really didn't care. What he cared about was winning over Kairi. And as much as he hated to admit it, it would be made much easier now that Riku wasn't here to interfere. As much as he missed Riku…and as much as he felt guilty over his disappearance, he couldn't help but feel content that Kairi would soon be his.

The classes ended for the day and he had to shake his head to clear it when the last bell rang. He had spent the remainder of the day daydreaming about Kairi, and wondering if he would ever see Riku again. He picked up his bag and headed out the door and into the hall where he saw something that made his stomach drop. A few feet away from him was Kairi…rapped in the arms of Taiyou, who was devouring her mouth. Not that she seemed to be objecting. Kairi' s arms were around his neck and she was pushing into him with the same amount of force.

He bit the inside of his lip so hard that he could taste copper in his mouth…blood. As soon as he tasted the fluid in his mouth it brought him back to the present and he was able to move. He couldn't bear to look at Kairi any longer and before he knew it he had turned tail and fled.

Running where? He didn't know…he just needed to get out of there and fast. Sora was in a very foul mood indeed. Of course, he knew that he had never felt this feeling before, but that didn't change to fact that he was very upset.

His insides felt like they had shriveled and he felt very sick…and cold. Somewhere around where his heart should be, ached painfully against his chest. He had felt tears well up in his eyes.

He didn't know or care where he had ran, but he did. He still wouldn't let the tears fall, however, and ran all the way to the beach next to his home. He collapsed in the sand and put his hands out in front of him to break his fall. He wept then.

His body shook uncontrollably as the sand in front of him grew increasingly wet. If someone were to walk by at that moment it would have probably been the most pitiable thing for him or her to experience.

After a long while Sora finally stopped crying but he only felt a small amount of relief. He was sniffling and he wiped his face with the back of his hand. He looked out in front of him and saw the waves of the ocean rolling slowly in and out of the sea. He thought then how wonderful it would be to jump into its depths and be washed under the tide to slowly drown.

He gradually got up from the spot in the sand and dusted off his jeans. Not that it mattered because he was planning on killing himself in a few minutes. He sluggishly walked towards the shore and looked out at the mass blue. He hated it. It looked so sanguine and calm…and it shouldn't!

Why should it look so tranquil when he was so miserable? His heart still had the painful ache and his stomach felt like it was twisted into many knots. Twisted…

Everything was twisted. He had come back the islands to be with Kairi, and what happens? SHE' S MAKING OUT WITH A GUY AT HER LOCKER! He had looked out at the ocean and hated it, and he had always loved the sea. He had run away… He had never run away from any of his problems.

When he had learned that he was the keyblade master he had accepted the knowledge easily. When Princess Jasmine got kidnapped, he told Aladdin that he would help him get her back. When he found that Riku had turned to the darkside he tried to make him realize that he was doing the wrong thing. When Riku had taken the keyblade as his own he had almost given up, but Beast had helped him see that he must fight to get it back. Then he faced Ansem in the battle that left him without his friends…was he truly alone in this world?

"Hello there," someone said from beside him. He looked to his left a little startled and saw a young woman standing adjacent to him. She had long blonde hair that fell to her waist and it had slight, but prominent curls through it. She had green crystalline eyes and her skin was tanned as if she had been lying in the sun for a fair few hours. Her long eyelashes brought her eyes out even more with the rare green coloring. Her lips were full and a dark red that was highly lascivious.

"Don't talk much?" she asked him when he didn't greet her back.

"Sorry," he said truthfully, "I was thinking."

"Hmm…I come here to do that a lot." She looked at him for a few moments before speaking again. "I don't think I've ever seen you before. Did you just move in?"

"No…I've just been away." He said shortly. She studied his sad features for awhile and Sora felt nervous under her gaze.

"You seem to have your mind elsewhere." She said observantly.

"Well, I do in fact," he tried to say without his breath catching in his throat.

"Ah, girl trouble." Sora just stared out at the sea for a few seconds before he heard her euphonic voice again. "So, who is she?

"I never said I was having girl trouble," he told her.

"You never said you weren't either," Sora looked at her in a "how would you know if I have a girl trouble anyway," sort of expression. "Trust me…I am a girl myself, and I know by now how cruel and unusual we can be."

Sora stared at her for a few moments before he felt a painful twist in his stomach. It was her words that did it to him. Her saying that girls can be cruel and unusual. Kairi had been both…Doing something so vile in front of everyone was the cruelty and kissing that boy was unusual. Taiyou looked so awkward that Sora couldn't even understand why she did it. The guy had BLUE HAIR FOR CHRIST'S SAKE! Sora let his eyes avert to the ground as he thought that Kairi had no feelings for him. The blonde next to him spoke again awakening him from his thoughts.

"Don't be to hard on yourself…" she said pausing for a response from him.

"It's Sora," he said quietly.

"Oh. Well, don't be to hard on yourself Sora." She put a hand on his shoulder momentarily to support him before speaking again. "I still, however, want to know who she is."

Sora hesitated for a few seconds before replying, "Kairi Tribal…" He mentally sunk to his knees and started sobbing again.

"Kairi?" she asked stunned. "She's dating Tai isn't she?" She wondered aloud.

"Well if he is the guy with blue hair that was sucking on her face after school, then yeah…unless that was his twin."

"Oh, that would be him…" she said sympathetically. "They have been dating for about a year I was told." Sora' s eyebrows knitted and his face fell even further than he thought possible. It wasn't likely that the two would be breaking up if they had been going out for so long. The girl next to him must have noticed his expression because she sighed sadly and put her arm around him. "Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have told you that."

"It's okay…better now than later I suppose." She pulled back as if she just realized that she had her arm around him. She reached into her purse that Sora just now noticed was in her left hand. She pulled out a metal case, and opening it grabbed a cigarette. She lit it with her small red lighter and took a small puff.

"Um, sorry but I never caught your name." Sora told her.

"Lacia Kimble," she said without thought. Sora nodded. It was a rather nice name for a girl that seemed quite nice herself. He smiled to himself because he just realized how great a listener she had been. Grant you, he hadn't said very much but she was very understanding.

"Want one?" she asked him.

"Sure," he said taking the cigarette she was holding out to him. "Thanks," he mumbled as he slipped the end past his lips. Lacia took her own from her mouth and lit the end of Sora' s. He smiled as she leaned forward to take another hit.

"So Sora," she said blowing out smoke. "Let's say we ditch this moping and go for a walk." Sora nodded, inhaling the smoke, which made him cough and splutter seconds later. She laughed momentarily before chiding him. "Don't inhale so much next time."

"Alright," he nodded. She grabbed him by the front of his shirt for a few steps and then he ended up beside her as they headed off down the beach.

Author's Note: I know, I know! I should have had this out months ago. I've had it written I just sort of forgot to post it until I checked my account and saw all the people who reviewed...WHO I REALLY NEED TO THANK! Here goes:

Moon-fan-101- I'm sorry I hadn't checked my account sooner. I would have updated! I'm sorry!

armageddonangel-I'm so sorry I kept you waiting so long. I think I have short term memory because I completly forgot to post my story and that was months ago. And about the heartless thing...you'll just have to wait and see!

palamidas-Aww! THank you sweetie! I'm glad you like it!

RedHotPhoenix-Wow! I've got alot to answer for you...First, I am so glad you like it! Second, Yes, Sora is supposed to be really sexy...especially in tight clothes. THird, I really love the Kairi/Sora shipping but I must admit I love reading Riku/Sora stories. Fourth, YES! I am ALWAYS high on sugar! laughs and grabs bag of sugar in the cupboard Hehehe...

thesrazrbladekisses-YAY! I updated it for you...

Acreum-I hoped you liked it! I should have had it out much sooner though.

angel-of-heart-I hoped you liked it...their will be more little twists

Sora: Riku, quit it!

Riku: What!

Sora: You know what! glares

Riku: This? pinches Sora's butt

Sora: Knock it off!

Riku: Knock what off?

Kairi999: Oh, will you two quit acting like children?

Sora:I will, if he does!

Riku: Oh, you LIKE it...admit it!

Sora: NO I DIDN'T!

Riku: Oh, so you need reminding? pinches his butt again

Sora: QUIT IT!

Riku: That's not what you said last night...

Sora:How would you know what I said last night...I was in my own bedroom!

Kairi999: Now Sora...don't lie...I never gave you your own room. I would much rather see you scrunched in to my bed cuddling with Riku.

Sora:I did NO such thing!

Riku: Yeah, keep telling yourself that...

Sora: I will!

Riku: well, good!

Sora: good!

Riku: Okay!

Sora: Fine