Chapter Eight—Nikki's Party

Kairi had to keep watch of the twins at Nikki's birthday party a week later. Nikki was one of the extremely spoiled rich-type kids. She had balloons, three clowns, a magic show and everything at her birthday party. It kind of made Kairi feel bad for the twins since the most she could do for them is get them a few presents and blow out candles.

"Doesn't your husband make a lot of money?" Asked Mrs. Gina, Nikki's mother. She always had money on her mind…

"Yeah, but we don't like spending it as much." Kairi answered. A couple kids ran past her screaming. Following them was one of the clowns. It was quite amusing to Kairi to watch the clown try to run in those big shoes. Akira and Kosuke were laughing over near the dessert table. Nikki was with some of the girls next to the wooden fence talking about them, Kairi guessed.

This was Kairi's first time actually seeing Nikki. She was a cute little girl; she had her long, brown hair in pigtails with cute little pink bows, a blue dress that looked pretty old-fashioned, and a sweet smile. She seemed really sweet.

"Would you quit drooling over her? It's really annoying!" Kosuke yelled. Akira wasn't listening. He stared dreamily at Nikki, not really noticing anyone or anything around him.

"That's so adorable." Kairi giggled.

"Ew, who's that… boy checking out my daughter?" Mrs. Gina was obviously talking about Akira. "He's so… hideous!"

Kairi glared at her. "That's my son, thank you."

Mrs. Gina started laughing. "Well, he definitely needs a few fashion tips." She came closer and whispered, "Try buying him some new outfits… I mean, that jacket does not suit him at all. What's with the flames? It's sickening! And the other one only makes things worse."

Kairi was really pissed now. How dare she even have the nerve to talk about her child like that? Akira was very different in the way he dressed… and so was Kosuke. Kairi felt like beating her to the ground for saying such things. However, she held it in and tried to ignore the blasted woman.

"Hey Kairi, there you are." Sora came up to her and kissed her. Not really in the mood, Kairi kissed back but then continued to glare at Mrs. Gina, who was now talking with Nikki about something.

"Something wrong?" Sora asked, putting his arm around her and shaking her a little bit.

"Mrs. Gina was talking bad about our sons, that's what." She said in an irritated voice, not taking her fiery eyes off of the lady. This made Sora angry, just as expected.

"And you're going to take that shit from her?" He said quietly. Kairi shook her head. She didn't want to start any trouble.

"Oh my goodness, Kairi… come over here. Let's talk." Sora and Kairi went over to an empty picnic table near the fence. She sat down next to him.

"You can't let people push you around…" He started. Kairi had a feeling they would have a talk like this sooner or later. Sora got really angry when Kairi would just take it. They both had very different ways of handling things, and Kairi's was trying to ignore it and hoping it would go away. Sora would usually confront the person and put them in their place.

"But Sora… fighting never got anybody anywhere…"

"Some of the best countries were made from fighting." He said. "Not saying it's right, but that's how it is."

She understood the point he was trying to make. He wanted her to stand up for what she believed in and face the people that hurt her so much. It was quite ironic, because she still hadn't told him about how she wanted him to be there more often…

"Sora, I'm not like you. I can't just start a fight with someone…"

"You've done it before." He reasoned, obviously referring to the Tifa incident years ago.

"I know, and I felt terrible afterwards. That's why I can't do it."

Sora sighed and thought for a moment. "Look," he paused, locking his hands together and looking straight into her eyes, "she was making fun of Akira and Kosuke, correct?" She nodded. "Doesn't that make you the least bit… angry?"

"I makes me furious…" Kairi admitted.

"So let her know that. Tell her that she shouldn't be saying that… because she has no right whatsoever to do so."

"She's just stupid…" Kairi looked away.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but it kind of makes you look stupid when you just sit and let her walk all over you." Sora rubbed the back of his head. Kairi gave him an astonished look.

Maybe he was right. His honesty didn't make her angry, in fact, it gave her a little bit more confidence, surprisingly. It made her think… was she really so afraid to confront people all her life that she just tried to pretend it wasn't there? The truth was, prejudice was real. Hate… lies, and everything in between were real. Expectations for everyone to meet a single person's standards varied, but were real. The truth was, you couldn't just let it go. There was a lot more to it than that, and Sora realized that early on.

"You're right… she can't talk about them like that. I need to go speak with her right now!" Sora grinned and hugged her.

"After… I get some cake."

Kairi went over to the dessert table. Akira was trying to talk to Nikki, while Kosuke was just rolling his eyes in the corner. Nikki actually seemed to like him. She was giggling and blushing at the same time as Akira tried to find the right words to say. Kairi saw Sora watching her from the picnic table and looked away. Mrs. Gina was heading over towards Nikki and Akira. Kairi decided to do the same.

"Nikki! Get away from that filthy boy!" Mrs. Gina snapped, grabbing her arm. Nikki gasped but wasn't able to say anything. Kairi was really pissed now.

"Gina…" Kairi wanted to say this without yelling, but for some reason she couldn't control herself anymore. She had gone too far…

Mrs. Gina gave her a disgusted look. "What do you want?"

Kairi put her hands on Akira's shoulders to try and stop from the very little shaking she was doing. Kosuke came over to them.

"First of all, my sons are not filthy, sickening, or whatever else you want to call them…" Her voice was rising. "I don't believe that you should be allowed to say anything about what they wear or where they come from. YOU HAVE NO LIFE WHATSOEVER!" She screamed. Everyone had their attention on them now. Sora crossed his arms and smiled.

Mrs. Gina looked around at the others, trying to think of something to say in defense. "Well, look at them! They're dirty, they have no manners… and… they are not worthy for my daughter!"

"Mom…" Nikki pleaded but was hushed.

"I don't want to be worthy of your daughter." Kosuke said, but was hushed as well. Sora appeared next to them.

"Gina, you are wrong in every single way. How dare you judge my boys like that! It's stupid and completely childish! Seriously, you would think an adult like you would've grown up by now, but you're just like the stereotypical teenager in high school. I bet your daughter has more sense than you do!" Kairi took a breath.

"And not only that, yes, there's more, you've really made me upset today. It just shows me that some people will just never learn. Some people will never become responsible, mature adults that this society actually expects out of them. If you have ten people, there will always be two or three who are still in that state of mind where they think they must impress others by doing the wrong thing to win affection, and that's exactly what you're doing. Honestly, it's just a pitiful way to get by. One mistake and they will hate you forever. They probably never even liked you in the first place."

That was the first actual speech Kairi had given in a long time. She felt like she had gotten everything out that she needed to, and the look on Mrs. Gina's face was furious. However, as expected, she had nothing to say to that. She took Nikki and declared the party over.

Sora patted Kairi on the back. "Good job. You stood up for yourself and won confidence at the same time. I'm really proud of you." He kissed her.

"I really do feel better…" Kairi admitted, smiling. That wouldn't last too long though.

"Mom! You ruined the party!" Akira whined.

"No she didn't." Sora said to him. "This party was ruined before it even started. You'll see Nikki again."

"OH NO HE WON'T!" Mrs. Gina called from the back door. "I don't want him near my daughter! GET OUT OF HERE!"

"I'll be glad to leave…" Kairi mumbled to herself.

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A/N: Sorry for the long wait on the update… I'm trying! If I don't update tomorrow I'll update sometime this weekend because my birthday is Thursday! W00!