Title: To Be Honest With Me

Rating: M

Warnings: Sex, angst, character development, logic

Pairings: Sora/Kairi, and Sora/Kairi/Riku

A/N: This is not an AU. I repeat, this is not an AU. It's merely a continuation after the end of KH2. I'll try to avoid spoilers, if I can, but you really shouldn't read if you haven't played KH2. Also, the school system will be Americanized. Why? Because I can. Just because KH2 is Japanese made, we really don't have to assume that the school Sora, Kairi, and Riku go to is essentially Japanese. I don't want to risk making a fool of myself, and the plot really depends on what I know of American schools. So, please, no whining. It's not against canon, because it's never stated in canon. Thanks. I do appreciate concrit, as well. -Raina

"Sora, Riku!" I shouted quickly and dashed to catch up with them.

Their first day back at school, and they hadn't bothered to wait two seconds for me to finish getting ready. I squeezed between them and slowed to a walking pace. Our shoes clicked against the graveled ground. The scent of saltwater hung heavy in the lazy morning air.

"That wasn't very nice," I chided the both of them with a smile and I swung my bag at my side jovially. I wanted to skip, but it seemed so inappropriate at that age.

"You were taking forever," Riku replied patiently. "It's a wonder you're never late."

"Sometimes I am," I laughed. Sora yawned behind me.

"Hey, Kairi, what's high school like?" Sora turned his innocent gaze towards me. His eyes were wide with curiosity and wonder. He looked uncomfortable in the school's uniform.

"Well, it's just like middle school, really. It's hard to explain. Oh! When are both of your lunches?" I turned and walked backwards so I could look at them.

"I have the first lunch," Riku said with a shrug. He didn't look nearly so uncomfortable as Sora. I was amazed.

"Hey, me too!" Sora said eagerly.

"Aw, rats," I said in dismay. I turned to walk forward, though I didn't have quite as much bounce in my step.

"Different lunch?" Riku asked.

"Yeah. I have the second lunch," I smiled weakly and shrugged. "But we'll see each other after school, so it's no big deal."

I wished I had their lunch, though. There was still a bunch of catching up for us to do. School was the unfortunate interruption. When I looked at Sora next, he looked so sad. Perhaps he thought I was more upset than I was? I quickly grinned and waved at him.

"Cheer up, Sora!" I said as reassuringly as I could. "There'll be plenty of time to talk after school. And you've got Riku to keep you company." Riku nodded in support.

Sora laughed. "If you say so, Kairi."

"Yeah. We'll talk about everything after school, even if I have to drag you both here myself."

"I really don't think you could manage that, Kairi," Riku mused dubiously.

In the distance, I saw the school's main building draw closer. Here, the foliage grew a little bit thicker and the sand was not as plentiful. Mint mingled awkwardly with the salt-water smell. Outside the building were clumps of students in various places. Some of them turned to stare at us. It was an awkward feeling for me, but I couldn't imagine how it felt for Riku or Sora.

Unfortunately, I had a feeling that they would be getting stares for a while yet. We quickly walked inside the school. I turned to look at them, asking as seriously as I could manage, "Alright, you know where your first period is?"

"Yes ma'am!" Sora replied quickly.

"Don't call me ma'am, Sora. That's kinda weird. Do you know, Riku?"

"Kairi, stop worrying. We don't need you to hold our hands," Riku replied, trying to assuage my worries.

I smiled ruefully at his sentence. With a quick nod we all split up towards our respective classes. Familiar greetings followed me down the hall. I didn't reply to any of them, but I smiled brightly at each one.

I was lonely.

I sat down in one of the desks with a heavy clump. My bag fell to the floor carelessly and I slumped forward over the desk. The board random 'I love you' messages written on it. The white chalk lay on the floor with neat little piles of dust around it. Students made their way in. There was a new student among familiar faces, though I didn't pay much attention to him.

A few minutes later, the weary teacher walked in. He pulled his Oxford sleeves up past his elbow and clapped his hands together. In the corner of his eyes were the fine lines of laughing wrinkles. His grayed hair was neatly combed to the side. He walked with a hunched back and a slight drag to his step.

"Alright, class, after one announcement, we will be continuing where we left off," the teacher, Mr. Helms, stated with his deep, booming voice. "Mr. Tribal, come to the front, please."

The desk scratched against the floor as he stood up and made his way to the front. I tried to look at him without moving an inch. He was short, and had shoulder length blond hair. His sleeves were cut off and his tie was barely tied. He grinned mischievously at all of them.

"Well?" the teacher asked, impatient.

"Yeah?" he asked black and then a look of comprehension came across his face. "Oh, sorry. Name's Zidane. Just came from Trezevant."

I could barely focus on what he was saying. The tail was distracting me. I had seen tails before, but the tail was always on something that didn't even vaguely resemble a human. It threw me off.

"Do you have any interests?"

"Well, I do, but I don't think that's really worth sharing right here." Zidane winked at me and I sat up with a surprised start.

"Very funny. Go sit down."

He flourished his hand and made a mock bow before going to his seat. I couldn't help but stare as he passed. He grinned at me. There was a sharp rapping from the front and I looked back towards Mr. Helms. He cleared his throat loudly.

"Alright, it's time to try to apply some of the concepts we've learned over the year. I know some of you have been looking forward to this project," he trailed off. The silence of many people holding their breath was a shock. I could hear Zidane snicker in the back.

"We're going to begin the trebuchet project. For those who are not familiar-" he glanced towards the back of the room, "with this project, I will be pairing you into groups of two. Your goal will be to build a functioning trebuchet. They will be tested in six weeks time. Now, here are your groups."

I couldn't focus on the drone of his voice anymore. The project's announcement was enough to depress me. I was terrible at building. I could research well enough and find supplies (or tell other people what supplies were needed), but I was terrible at building. It would be my luck to have a partner who was as horrible at it as me.

"Kairi!" I looked up. I'm sure I had a dumb expression on my face. "You'll be helping our new student, Mr. Tribal."

I looked back at him and he waved. I forced a grin and looked towards the front.

"Yes sir."

"That said, get in your groups. You'll have twenty minutes to work on your project."

I looked back at Zidane again and heaved a sigh. I didn't want to move, I was very comfortable, but there was no available seat for him beside me. There were, unfortunately, plenty of seats back by him for me. I stood up and moved to a seat next to him. I had a feeling he was the sort of person who didn't like to focus on the task at hand.

"Hi," I said brightly. "I'm Kairi."

"I kinda figured, since he said my partner was, you know, Kairi," he replied good-naturedly.

I laughed. "Oh, yeah. Duh. So, um, I have to ask this. Are you any good at building?"

"Yeah. Why? You aren't?" he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Absolutely terrible."

We laughed together.