Chapter Three—Where'd the Others Go?

A brownish-blonde haired man in his early twenties was humming a song as he moved quickly down the illuminated streets of Twilight Town. He was on his way home. This was the third time the poor man had been late for dinner, and he knew his wife was going to be pissed once again. Not to mention their seven-year old daughter, Haruka, wasn't really going to be too happy either.

"Roxas! Where have you been?" Snapped Namine as she tapped her foot up and down furiously. Her arms were crossed and her glare gave Roxas chills.

"I'm sorry… I—"

"Don't even say anything…" Namine took in deep breaths. And then in a lower tone, she said, "We were supposed to go over to Kairi's house tonight. I had to cancel it!"

"Oh man… I'm so sorry…" Roxas decided it was best to walk out of the room before Namine said anything else. He had to avoid all the tension coming from her somehow because he didn't really feel like dealing with it. She nagged him constantly about his whereabouts and why he went most nights without eating anything with the family.

Roxas gave his face a refreshing splash of hot water as he washed it. He had gotten off work two hours before; when Namine expected him to be home. However, Roxas had a problem with getting distracted too easily and often would walk off in that direction just to see what was going on. Today there was a fight in front of the police station and he wanted to watch. Weapons were involved.

"Roxas, did you pick up our laundry?" Namine called from the kitchen. Roxas smacked himself in the forehead. After Namine realized that he wasn't giving her an answer, she groaned once more.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Kairi's head was throbbing. She's had a headache all day and it was only getting worse with the twin's constant bickering. She wanted to yell at them, but Kairi usually didn't have the heart to do it. She was kind of glad that Namine cancelled their plans that day, because she wasn't feeling well at all. It was the beginning of November, and Sora had a game at a place Kairi had never heard of. It was going to be on international television that night, so she might as well watch it.

- - -

"Mom! Dad's on TV!" The twins yelled from the TV room. Kairi must've fallen asleep, because it was going on eight o' clock. She rushed into the TV room and sat in the lazy chair that usually Sora would be in.

"What a close game so far!" The announcer shouted. Kairi was used to watching Sora's games on the television. They could only afford going to the local games since Kairi had to work most days and the kids had school.

"And another score by Sora Kiyamoto! What a player he is on and off the arena…"

Kairi didn't even bother to figure out what the announcer meant by that. The twins cheered for their father by nearly jumping out of their seats and doing strange dances. She was used to this behavior, especially from Selphie a long time ago…

Selphie was still living on Destiny Islands. Last Kairi heard, she was engaged to a man she met in college. Kairi only went to college for two years and decided to quit when the twins were born. Sora went the full four years and completed it. Not too long after that, he was accepted onto the Blitzball team. There were many nights that Kairi was left at home all alone with Kosuke and Akira. Things were very stressful.

However, Sora always found a way to make it up to her and their kids somehow. When the twins were five, Sora took everyone out to an amusement park on the other side of town. Of course it wasn't enough to replace Kairi's small resentment towards him at the time, but the kids certainly enjoyed it. When Kairi was with Sora, he was always so loving and caring, but when he was away, she seemed to hate it…

The game was over. They lost by one point. Kairi shrugged it off and sent Akira and Kosuke off to bed. They were really disappointed about the loss, but Kairi knew they'd get over it eventually.

Namine called that night and apologized for Roxas' behavior. Kairi said over and over again that it was all right, but with Namine's habit to always worry it really made the situation worse than it was.

If you're wondering about what happened to Namine and Riku, they broke up in college. Riku was flirting with too many girls and Namine couldn't take it. She met Roxas when she attended her fourth year of college and fell in love with him. They got married about two years later and had a daughter named Haruka. Namine had short hair; shorter than it was in high school. It was about down to her shoulders. It was a good look for her.

"How about tomorrow?" Kairi asked after a huge yawn.

"Sorry… I have to work…" Namine replied sadly.

"Oh. I do too…"

"How about Sunday night?"

Kairi went through her mind and tried to think if they had anything to do on Sunday. Once she realized her schedule was clean, she accepted. Plus, Sora would be home that day, so it would work. They got off the phone and Kairi went to bed.

- - -

That Sunday, Namine and her family arrived at the house. Sora hadn't gotten home yet. Haruka and the twins were good friends, thank goodness. They went upstairs to play video games while Kairi stood in the kitchen with Namine and Roxas.

"So Sora's not back yet?" Roxas asked stupidly. Kairi shook her head. Namine could sense a bit of irritation.

"Are you okay, Kairi?"

"Yes. I'm fine." She took some plates out from the cabinet and set them around the table. Namine and Roxas helped.

Dinner started. Everyone sat down at the table and said grace. Kairi had gotten used to eating without Sora, so it didn't really bother her much. The twins seemed to have gotten used to it too, so they didn't complain anymore.

"Is he usually gone like this?" Namine questioned. She wouldn't let it go.

"Yes." Kairi answered simply, not looking up.

"Dad comes home whenever he feels like it." Akira blurted out. Kairi gave him an angry look that meant drop it.

After dinner, Roxas took Haruka home and the twins went to bed. Namine and Kairi sat in the living room and talked.

"Roxas has been getting on my nerves lately, too." Namine admitted.

"I believe it."

"It's just that… he forgets a lot of things. It's really starting to bug me."

Kairi yawned. "Yeah. You'll get used to it eventually."

Namine gave her a strange look. "You don't like the fact that Sora's on that team, do you?" Kairi took a while to answer.

"Um… not really…"

"So tell him." Namine reasoned. Was she crazy?

"I can't… he loves Blitzball more than anything…" She just realized she said that wrong.

"There's your problem." Namine said. "He should be at home more often. It's not right to just leave you here for days on end like that. Are you telling me that he doesn't have a clue that what he's doing is wrong?" Kairi shrugged. She didn't know what Sora thought anymore.

"That's pretty bad." Namine stood up and stretched. "I should be getting home, though. Roxas probably hasn't even stepped in the door yet, knowing him." She smiled. Kairi laughed a little and showed her to the door. Namine didn't live too far away, so it was all right for her to walk home.

"See ya later." Kairi waved.

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A/N: Yay! Another chapter! Go me!