Chapter 15—It Could Be Worse

Vacation had finally come to an end and it was time to pack their bags and leave. Akira and Kosuke complained and begged to stay, but they knew they couldn't win. The way home was long and stressful, since the kids were pleading to go back again.

About a week later, Kairi was back at work. Her co-workers greeted her back happily. Rinoa and Kairi avoided the boss at all costs. He did something a little earlier that day that really scared them.

Flashback

"Oh, Kairi! You're back!" He put his hand on her shoulder. Kairi gave him a nervous laugh, pushed his hand off gently and said hello. She saw Rinoa standing there and went over with her. Mr. Yamada winked at them, and Kairi could've sworn she saw him lick his lips.

"He freaks me out…" Rinoa said. Kairi agreed.

End of Flashback

When Kairi got home, she was surprised to see the twins asleep in the TV room and Anna making some dinner. She set her bags down and went into the kitchen.

"Wow, thanks." Kairi said.

"No problem. Akira and Kosuke were begging me to make them something to eat. They've been so quiet…"

"They're sleeping." She giggled. "Thanks again. I'll take it from here."

After Anna left, Kairi went into the TV room with a few blankets and put them over the twins to keep them warm. Akira squirmed a little and Kosuke seemed like he didn't even feel it. Kairi smiled at them. They were so peaceful when they slept and a lot easier to handle on her part.

"I wonder if we have any ice cream…" she said to herself as she walked into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, she pulled out the strawberry and chocolate ice cream. Kairi went into her room with the bucket and starting eating it as she watched TV. She hadn't eaten ice cream in a while…

Sora came home. The twins were still sleeping, so he didn't bother them. He found Kairi eating the ice cream out of the bucket and just had to question her about it.

"Why the bucket?"

Kairi looked up at him and shrugged. "I don't know. I just wanted to."

She fed some to Sora, giggling at his sillyness. He took the spoon and did the same. After that, he put it away, got in bed, and just lay there with her. It was dark and quiet. Kairi stared up at the ceiling.

"I have to leave again tomorrow, but this time for four days." Sora sighed. He sounded a bit disappointed.

"What for?" Kairi looked over at him.

"Our Mid-Season banquet. We're going to some castle."

"Oh… that…"

"Something wrong?" Sora turned onto his side.

"No." She laughed. "Have fun!" Sora sighed in relief and laid back down. He put his arm around her waist and cuddled next to her. He closed his eyes and yawned.

"You know… whenever I go on these trips and stuff, I always miss you and the boys so much. It's like you're on my mind every second…" He whispered. Kairi's stomach twisted. She always blushed when he said things like this. Good thing it was dark.

- - -

Sure enough, Sora left in the afternoon the next day. The kids were at school, and Kairi was off of work. Sometimes the house would be so boring she would actually want to yell at the twins or something. There was nothing on TV, as usual, so it left Kairi searching through the bookshelf. Kairi only read stories that kept her interested from start to finish. It had to be that good or she'd get bored within the first few pages.

"The Widow of the South…" Kairi picked out an old book that her mother gave her when she was younger. She never got around to reading it during her teenage years, considering she didn't read many books back then anyway. Lately she had become interested in History and loved stories that were set 200 or 300 years in the past.

She read for about two hours, getting through six chapters before Akira and Kosuke walked into the door carrying their backpacks. Akira didn't look too happy, but Kosuke was the complete opposite.

"Mom! Look at my report card!" Kosuke bragged. He had straight A's once again, which always made Kairi happy.

"Very good, Kosuke!" She patted him on the head. Akira was trying to sneak off upstairs, but she stopped him. He whined and gave her his report card.

"Okay, one A… that's good." Kairi read down the list and looked at the comments left by teachers. "One B, and four F's?" She was shocked.

"So I'm not perfect like Kosuke! So what!" Akira tried to run upstairs again, but Kairi made him stay. She knew yelling at him wasn't going to bring his grades up, so she thought of a better idea.

Kairi grabbed her keys and told them to get into the car. She knew Kosuke didn't really need this lecture, but you never know what could happen with children these days. Before they left, Kairi put a small knife into her pocket. (A/N: She's not going to kill them, don't worry! XD)

She drove over to the part of town that had all of the poor people on the side of the street begging for money. Akira and Kosuke weren't too fond of this tour, but they had no choice. Since the car had tinted windows, she let them see how these people lived and tried to explain some general reasons why they would be that way. She wasn't criticizing them in any way.

"Do you two want to end up like that?" She pointed over to a man in rags picking some food out of a trashcan. They shook their heads nervously. There was another man with a long, brown dirty beard holding a bottle of alcohol near a jewelry shop.

"Why are they like that?" Kosuke asked.

"Because they probably were high school dropouts." Kairi answered.

"You can drop out of school? I thought that would get you sent to jail or something." Kosuke said. Kairi shrugged. She wasn't too familiar with the law system around here, but back on Destiny Islands, the parents would've been charged if their children didn't attend school and possibly go to jail.

"The lesson here is, if you don't want to end up on the side of the road begging people for money… with rotten teeth and no job or family, you need to keep your grades up, okay? I'm saying this to both of you." Kairi said.

The twins were pretty freaked out by this, so she took them to get some fast food to make them feel a little better. However, she knew it might take a little more than that to convince Akira to do his schoolwork. She just hadn't found out what to do yet. Kairi knew since she was usually the only parent in the house, that she would have to figure out how to do this by herself.

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A/N: Such mixed feelings… xD If you're wondering about the knife, I would be afraid of those people… they might try to kill you. Oo; You never know… heh!