Chapter Seven – The Talk

Sora came home from practice early that night, which really surprised the family. He took a shower, got dressed and went back into the kitchen where the twins were eating dinner. Kairi was reading a book in the other room.

"Kosuke, you are popular! Geeze!" Akira rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, with the nerds!" Kosuke dropped his fork on the floor. Sora noticed what they were talking about and sat down at the table.

"Dad, I'm a freak!" Kosuke whined. Sora raised an eyebrow.

"What are you kids worrying about popularity for? It's nothing special." Sora said casually. "Believe me, I know from experience."

"We're you a nerd when you were in school?" They asked. Sora shook his head.

"Actually, I was on the Blitzball team, so I guess I was considered well known. But I didn't care." The twins exchanged strange looks and then returned their attention back to their father. Kairi showed up at the door, but Sora didn't notice.

Sora thought for a moment about the words he was going to say. It was difficult to explain this to eight year-olds; in fact, he wondered why they bothered to know, especially this early in their education. Have the times changed?

"I made a speech at my high school graduation… and in that speech," he paused, "I said that it doesn't matter who you were in school, because after you're out of school, nobody will care if you were popular or not. Basically… you're just at the bottom of the food chain, so to speak, once again… once you step foot out of that school. However, you kids shouldn't be so afraid to stand out either."

"Labels are stupid." Kairi finally said, sitting next to Sora.

"But Akira gets all the attention… from girls and even teachers!" Kosuke explained.

"He gets attention from the teachers because he gets in trouble." Kairi pointed out, glancing over at Akira.

This ''family meeting'' was quite awkward for all of them; Kairi and Sora's families never did this when they were younger, but they enjoyed speaking to their children about it. Kairi guessed it was never too early to talk to them. (A/N: Damn drug commercials… XD) The twins didn't seem to mind; they were quite curious now… as usual.

"Mom, were you popular?" Akira asked. This question annoyed Kairi; she didn't like to think about who she used to be.

"I didn't care for it."

"What?" Sora looked at her. Kairi eyed him. "You didn't?" He asked. He must've forgotten their high school years already.

"I had my friends, so I was happy. I didn't care what the others thought of me." She shrugged. "Sure, not many people knew who I was, but it didn't really affect me, especially in my senior year. You two are in elementary school. You shouldn't worry about this stuff right now."

"Yeah." Sora said. "There are a lot of things to deal with, and yes, High school is the most remembered, but who you were then will not get you a job or something."

"But… everyone picks on me and my friends…" Kosuke held his head down. Kairi and Sora were surprised.

"So that's why some of the more popular kids call me names sometimes…" Akira said aloud, "because they think I'm you! I really am liked!"

"Akira!" Kairi scolded. He apologized.

"What is it about me that makes them hate me so much?" Kosuke seemed to have ignored Akira's comment. "I mean, I look just like Akira… only Akira keeps his hair in a ponytail most the time… but he has the same face, eyes, and everything else! I don't understand!"

"Kosuke," Kairi set her hand on the table. "They don't hate you, okay?"

"You don't know what it's like!" Kosuke tried to run out of the room.

"Hey, get back here." Sora demanded. Kosuke stopped and gritted his teeth. He came back to the table and laid his head down.

"Now, Kosuke, what do they say to you?" Sora hoped for a decent answer. Kosuke didn't say anything; he was sobbing. Akira didn't look like he was paying attention; he had a new strange shaped straw in his hands and was fiddling with it. Kairi patted Kosuke's back.

Sora sat up and sighed. This was going to be more difficult than he thought. He expected to talk to them about this when they entered high school, but they probably wouldn't listen then. Sora knew he didn't listen to his parents in high school, so he wouldn't be surprised if the twins were just as rebellious as he was. However, he didn't want them to be that way. No parent would…

"Yesterday this middle-school guy came up to my friend and threw him in a trashcan." Kosuke admitted, sniffling. Sora and Kairi exchanged anxious looks.

"Oh my goodness, is he okay?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah, after I came out from my hiding place and got him out."

"Where was I in all this?" Akira asked absentmindedly. Kosuke glared at him.

"You were with the cool kids."

"Hey, we're no better than you… and certainly not worse either." Akira needed to learn when to keep his mouth shut.

"Okay, enough… Kosuke, let me put it this way. People give others what is called stereotypes, because that's what everyone else is doing." Sora said. "The stereotype of wearing nice clothes, tucking in your shirt, glasses, etc. is usually classified as a nerd, when really that's not who the person is at all. Maybe you do like dressing the way you do, and Akira has his own style that's stereotypical as well."

"Basically, most people are stupid." Kairi blurted out. There was a pause. "Don't repeat that."

"But it still hurts… why are they so mean?" Kosuke sighed. Not even Akira had anything to say to this one; he just remained quiet.

"It's a mystery… why people act the way they do…" Sora rubbed the back of his head.

"Actually…" Kairi interrupted, "Sora, remember when we had that argument a long time ago?" Sora stared at her blankly. "When I was really angry at you for some reason and you made the excuse that being popular has a lot of pressure?" Sora thought for a moment, then nodded. "And then I made that whole speech about how not being noticed has a lot more pressure?"

"What does that have to do with this?" He asked. She ignored him and turned to the twins.

"Popularity isn't everything. You must be happy with who you are before you can let anybody else like you. I won't deny it, it's not easy to stand out in a crowd of a million imposters that will probably never find the true happiness in themselves… and you have to rise above that. That might sound a little corny, but it's true. Do you understand?"

Kosuke and Akira raised an eyebrow, obviously stating that they had no idea what she just said. Kairi sighed and smacked her forehead.

"In other words, be who you are no matter what anyone says." Sora summarized. The twins looked at each other.

"Oh! Right!" They said in unison. Kairi and Sora laughed.

"So is there anything else you want to talk about?" Kairi asked. They shook their heads.

"I'm going to go play a video game." Akira hopped out of his chair. Kosuke followed, leaving Kairi and Sora alone in the kitchen.

"Wow, that was weird." Kairi giggled.

"Yeah… but nice." Sora agreed.

"You know when it comes time for them to go to high school we probably won't be able to talk to them anymore, right?" Sora nodded.

"Yeah… but that doesn't mean we shouldn't at least try."

"I couldn't agree more." She smiled.

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A/N: What a random, talkative chapter… and a great name too… heh, I had to end it because my little brother is trying to find out if his friend is gay and I must pick up the phone and listen. :D By the way, I have a picture of the twins on my myspace... I think the link is on my profile page...'Til next time!