Author's Note: Yay, chapter 2... shock! Surprise! I hope I can figure out a direction for this story, because I certainly don't have an idea at the moment... so it might take awhile to update. Sorry
I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the characters in the story! They all belong to Square-Enix & Disney.
No
Regrets
Chapter 2
By Kusabi
The
next day, a Sunday, Sora wasn't around, much to Kairi's relief.
He had gone on a trip to see King Mickey. She hadn't really been
paying attention to him when he was talking about it the previous day
– she had been too entranced with watching Riku square off against
Tidus. He had emerged victorious, of course.
Unfortunately
for her, Riku had gone on this trip as well. Per Kairi's request,
Riku had promised not to tell Sora about their relationship. Her mind
had been made up – he had to hear it from her. There was no
way he'd believe Riku.
However,
once Monday morning rolled around, Kairi began to feel ill. Her
original plan had been to tell Sora about her and Riku after
school, but she didn't feel well enough to go.
Wow,
this is just my luck. I need to tell him… this is
ridiculous! I'm going back to bed…
"Kairi?"
She
awoke with a start. Being woken up by being called upon bothered her,
as she had always been a bit jumpy. She wasn't very surprised to
find Sora standing over her.
"Hey,"
she said, lightly. "What's going on?"
"Well,"
he began, "since you weren't at school today, I wanted to check
up on you." A small, embarrassed smile formed on his lips.
Lying
back down, Kairi sighed. "I'm okay. Just not feeling very well.
Slept pretty much all day."
"That's
good," he replied with a sheepish grin. Kairi wanted to roll her
eyes, but restrained herself.
I know about your feelings, so stop playing innocent!
"Say…"
He paused to think. He had been waiting for an opportunity to tell
her for quite some time, and he wondered if now would be good. As
good a time as any, I guess.
Kairi,
on the other hand, wasn't as pleased with Sora's timing. She
figured that he thought it would make her feel better, though it had
the opposite effect. Her stomach churned, and she began to feel
slightly nauseous.
Maybe
I should've had Riku break the news.
"I've
been wanting to say this for awhile now," he said, a little slowly,
as though making sure that every single word he spoke sounded fine.
"I don't know how you feel, but…
"Kairi,
I'm in love with you."
Oh,
crap, she thought. He said it… it's out in the open now…
I don't know if I have the will to break it to him…
"I'm
sorry, Sora." Those were the only words she could bring herself to
say.
A
look of mixed emotions spread across Sora's face. There was
sadness, jealously, confusion, and just a hint of anger. He had
saved her life, after all, shouldn't he get something for that?
Friendship…
In
exchange for saving her, he had received her continued friendship. He
had done it out of love, a love more powerful than just
friendship. But she saw him as a kind of brother, and nothing
more.
Choking
up, he fought to say something, but found himself unable to. He
simply started at her, not knowing what to think anymore. After he
felt warm tears begin to run down his face, he bolted from her house.
But
it wasn't quite over yet.
I
didn't tell him about Riku…
As
much as she wanted to fall back asleep, she knew she couldn't. Once
again, she had too much on her mind.
Riku
came to see her that night. Though he had wanted to come earlier,
homework had kept him busy at the time.
"It's
probably better that you didn't," she said, tiredly. "He
came by."
Eyes
widening, Riku sat down in a chair next to Kairi's bed. "Were you
able to tell him?"
She
sighed. "He admitted his feelings for me. The only thing I could
say was 'I'm sorry'…"
"So,
he doesn't know about me?"
"No,"
she said, quietly.
He
smiled kindly at her. "Don't worry about it. I can take care of
it."
Kairi
nodded. Her eyes were tinted with sadness, as she still felt bad
about crushing Sora's heart.
"He…"
she spoke, "he didn't take it so well."
"Listen
to me," Riku said, staring into her eyes. "Everything is going to
be fine. Sora has a strong heart… he will heal."
"Riku…"
Love. She absolutely loved the way he could make her feel better
about any situation. Even when he looked like "Ansem", she
had known it was Riku, by the fact that his presence had upped her
spirits. Though she was happy that he had his original body back, she
knew that no matter what he looked like, Riku was who he was, and no
matter what, she would love him.
"Thank
you so much. Thank you for giving me this strength."
"It's
never a problem, Kairi." He tilted forward, planting a swift kiss
on her lips. "You know that if you have no strength, I'll give
you as much of mine as you need."
Upon
returning home, Riku spotted Sora outside of his house.
Of
course, he thought. He's come to talk to me about her.
"Sora!"
At
Riku's call, Sora turned to face him. His eyes were slightly
swollen from crying, and his expression was empty. Someone who didn't
know him might've thought he had been suffering depression for
years.
"Hi,
Riku." His tone was low, and very stiff. "I wanted to ask you
something." The only thing he wanted to do was get straight to the
point.
"Yeah?"
"Do
you… do you know who Kairi is in love with?" Despair was heavy in
his voice, a kind of tone that Sora rarely ever spoke with. To Riku,
this whole scene was one of the saddest things he'd seen since
returning to the islands.
"About
that…"
A
small light appeared in Sora's eyes. "So you do know! Please,
Riku, you've got to tell me!"
Sora's
desperation upset Riku. Yes, he loved Kairi, but their love was
tearing their best friend apart. He knew what he had to do,
though, or else the situation could get even worse.
"It's…
it's me," he said, in a slightly reserved manner.
Sora
simply shook his head, in denial.
"I
don't believe you. This isn't funny." As he glared at Riku, a
fire burned out of control inside of him. There's no way he's
serious.
Best
friends don't do that kind of thing. Right?
"Now,
Riku. Tell me, who is it? Be honest this time."
"Don't
be ridiculous!" Riku shot back at him. "I have no reason to lie
to you. Kairi and I… we both feel the same about each other."
"Shut
up!" Angrily, Sora clamped his hands over his ears. He refused to
hear any more of it. Only one thought ran through his mind…
"Betrayal". Deep down, he knew it wasn't something he could've
changed. However, the hurt inside of him was so prominent, it was all
he could think of.
With
his emotions running out of control, he darted towards Riku, landing
a powerful blow on his left cheek. Afterwards, he simply ran off.
Riku
stood there in disbelief. Coming into this, he had no idea what to
expect, except for Sora's heartbreak. He certainly hadn't
expected Sora to hit him. He couldn't help but feel worry
for his friend. It was obvious that it would be hard on him, but
would Sora be okay?
Brushing
the thought out of his mind, he decided to turn in for the night.
He'd save the worry for another day.
