C03
Location: Hollow Bastion Main Hopsital
Date: Tuesday, November 20th 2X60
Time: 0020 hours
The moment Riku parks the car, Sora jumps out and beelines towards the building entrance.
It's unfortunate how familiar he is with the layout of the hospital. Up the front stairs, enter the lobby, head down the halls on the left to the end, and he winds up at a red glaring sign that reads EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT. He pauses to catch his breath, recalling the last time he was here under similar circumstances.
"She's still critical. I'm sorry, you can't see her now."
"What do you mean, critical?"
"Sorry, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."
"What're you doing?"
Sora blinks, turning to face Riku who's down the hall wearing a confused expression. He jabs his finger towards the other direction.
"They transferred her to one of the rooms."
Sora nods, wordlessly following Riku towards the inpatient ward. The entire way, he tries to work through the thoughts swarming his head. All he knows is the bare bones of what Squall had told them: Kairi went on a mission (without them?), things went south, and she was sent to the hospital. He tries to keep his brain from jumping to worst case scenarios.
Riku stops outside a nondescript room and hesitates before knocking. A voice invites them in and they enter. Sora trails behind, cautiously observing the medical equipment in the room. He looks from the hospital bed, to the vitals monitor, to the IV lines, to…
"Kairi," Riku greets. "How are you feeling?"
Kairi snorts good-naturedly, struggling to sit up in her bed. "Not so hot, but considering the circumstances, not bad I guess. What're you guys doing here? It's the middle of the night."
Riku shrugs, pulling up chairs to sit closer to her bed. "Someone's gotta make sure you're following the doctor's orders."
Sora blinks again. The sight of Kairi feels surreal. She looks so out of place drowning in an oversized hospital gown, in this dimly lit room, looking small and weak. This is the girl who carried their team in sim training the other day. Who was just nagging him about buying batteries, or something, a few hours ago. Who was chomping down food with him like there was no tomorrow…
Riku tugs on his shirt and gestures at the spare chair. Realizing his friends are staring, Sora quickly sits.
"Of course I'm following directions!" Kairi exclaims. "They said to get some rest, so I'm hanging out with my friends—oh, oops," she chuckles, not a hint of remorse in her voice.
Riku rolls his eyes. "What else did the doctor say?"
"Just no food or drink, and to stop getting myself into trouble all the time. Hey, what are the chances that I winded up with the same ER doc as last time? She said she remembers me cause of my hair—of course—and also, remember that time they tore the hospital apart looking for me? Seriously, I only hid in the closet cause I wanted some alone time, and there's absolutely no privacy in this place. There's always someone coming in and out whenever they want. It's worse than our dorms our first year! Remember that time Sora told us he was changing and Captain Lockhart walked in on him? I still laugh when I think of it! ...Sora?"
Kairi was rambling, so he hadn't been exactly listening. But hearing his name and noticing his friends staring (again), Sora tries to piece together the conversation. Something about the doctor and Captain Tifa Lockhart? No idea where the connection is.
Kairi looks a little too unconcerned about the fact that she's resting in a hospital bed, which only makes him more frustrated. Trying to quell the surge of emotions, he focuses on trying to understand the situation.
"Kairi, what happened?"
Kairi sighs. "What happened? I'd like to know too. I mean, whatever the doctors did really worked—I don't feel any pain now. Or maybe that's the morphine…"
"Seriously, Kairi," Sora interrupts impatiently. "Squall said you went on a mission?"
"Oh." Kairi shrugs, her voice flat and disinterested. "Yeah, with Selphie's team. We were hanging out while she was on call, and because they have the worst luck ever, they actually got called in. It was just a pack of Heartless, but there were a little more than the cutoff of 30 so I volunteered to tag along since I was already there. So we headed towards the border, and I realized our team hasn't been out there in awhile, y'know? I mean, I'm glad things are safe with the defense system, but it's beautiful! It was kinda romantic actually—except for the fact that we were killing Heartless…"
"Kairi," Sora snaps, because the meandering explanation is getting on his nerves. How can she act so casual and unbothered in the hospital, when her life was at stake?
Riku shoots him a look, which Sora ignores. He knows they both want to know what actually happened that landed Kairi in the hospital.
"A Heartless snuck up on me, so they sent me here to get patched up. That's all," Kairi finishes unceremoniously. "You know, we should get Squall to send us on fieldwork missions more often. I miss getting out there—"
"Kairi," Sora says lowly, because he can't believe she's still trying to change the subject. "You're not at the infirmary—you're at the main hospital. Again." He shuts out unwanted memories and focuses on Kairi, who's staring at him wide-eyed. "You aren't just getting 'patched up' - you're here cause you were seriously injured."
"Sure, Dad." Kairi rolls her eyes. "Cut me some slack, will you? You know I'm gonna get the whole spiel from my parents later."
"We're just worried," Riku explains. "How come you keep winding up in the hospital?"
"That's my question!" Kairi jokes. "You guys manage just fine, and I know for a fact that we're at equal skill levels. Am I just really unlucky?"
Finally, something in Sora tips over. A lot of emotions strike at once, but he can only discern one: sudden, all-consuming rage.
"You're in the hospital, Kairi—stop acting like everything's a joke."
Kairi frowns, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm not joking around. You're kinda being a jerk, Sora."
"You mean I'm the only one who thinks it's not right that we're in this situation, again?" He gestures at both his friends, who stare incredulously.
Riku rests a hand on him and starts with, "Sora, calm down—" but Sora barely registers it and rises to his feet.
"You're both acting like this is not a big deal. What's wrong with you guys?"
"What the hell is your problem?" Kairi glares at him. "Are you seriously getting mad at me for ending up in the hospital? Do you think I want to be here?"
"Oh yeah? Well, why don't you explain how you ended up here?"
"If you were listening for the past five minutes, you'd know I literally just told you!"
"You didn't explain anything!" Sora exclaims. "You told us a story. A story that's meant to entertain us and make light of the situation, cause obviously you're not taking this seriously at all. Why can't you stop treating this like a joke—"
"This obviously isn't a joke, cause no one's laughing!"
Kairi's exclamation punctuates their conversation. Silence settles in the room amidst both parties' heavy breaths. Sora's about to make another comment when Riku stands and grabs him by the arm.
"We're taking five. Both of you."
Before Sora can respond, he's dragged out of the room and shoved aside—oww. He rubs his shoulder where it hit the wall and looks back at Riku, who has shut the door behind them and is staring at him.
"What the hell?" Sora snaps. "What's your problem?"
"Are you serious? That's my question. Kairi's hurt, and the first thing that comes to mind is to have a screaming match with her?"
"It wasn't me—she started it!"
"Seriously? It doesn't matter. What the hell are you thinking? Besides the fact that she's injured and needs rest...she's injured and needs rest! Why are you picking a fight with her?"
"Didn't you hear her? She acting like she's just getting patched up in clinic or something! She's not taking this seriously at all! Who's she kidding?"
"What do you want her to do? Curl up in bed and cry? She's probably just trying to be strong in front of us, you dumbass! You've known Kairi your entire life, haven't you?"
"Exactly! I've known her forever, so I know that she thinks everyone's exaggerating and everything's fine. Everything's not fine, Riku! It's like she thinks this is all a game or something. This time she was in the ICU for who knows how long, last time she almost died—what next, huh? What needs to happen for her to take things seriously? This is her life we're talking about!"
"Look, Sora, I get what you're feeling. Last time was scary for all of us. But getting mad at her for ending up in the hospital doesn't help things! It's not like she wants to be here."
Sora narrows his eyes at his best friend. "You think I'm overreacting, don't you?"
"I think a lot has happened today, and you're stressed out. Just go home—I'll stay with Kairi."
"So you're on her side."
"Goddammit, Sora, this isn't about taking sides!" Riku rarely breaks his 3C (Calm, Cool, and Collected™) character, and Sora's just a little alarmed. "Kairi needs rest and you're not helping. Do everyone a favor and go home."
Even though Riku just said it's not about picking sides, Sora still feels betrayed by his best friend. With a loud huff, he walks off without looking back.
You're such a drama king, Conscience-Kairi teases.
Wow, she won't even leave him alone with his own thoughts?
As Sora steps out of the hospital, the cold nighttime air doesn't quench the burning rage. How come neither of his best friends see where he's coming from? He doesn't want to play this game of charades where they act like one of them didn't just almost die.
He's scared, and the only thing scarier is the fact that he's the only one who feels this way.
When he finally reaches home, he realizes every other thing in the apartment reminds him of his friends. The video game he'd been playing with Riku is paused on the TV screen. There's a fruits basket on their dining table, courtesy of Kairi's mother. The reason the sofa pillows are missing is cause the three of them built a massive blanket fort in Riku's room last week. He doesn't remember a time in his life without one of his best friends by his side. And he doesn't know how to cope with this empty feeling. Being reminded of their absences surely doesn't help.
His phone buzzes, and a cursory glance informs him it's a committee-wide announcement recruiting for a volunteer mission. Normally, Sora doesn't pay attention to things that require additional work. But seeing that the mission takes place at another world piques his interest. Maybe some time away from everything will help him sort through his feelings.
And at the very least, he won't have to deal with this crippling loneliness.
LOCATION: Operations and Tactical Support (OATS) Room 2, Darkness in Zero Academy
DATE: Tuesday, November 20th 2X60
TIME: 0745 hours
"Your card has been deactivated."
Naminé balks at the robotic voice speaking. Embarrassment washes over as she awkwardly steps aside to let the next person swipe into the OATS room. Wandering back to the building entrance, she stares at her ID incredulously.
They actually went and freaking deactivated her ID?
She doesn't need another reminder that she's on probation because of her screw up. Hell, now the entire school's gonna know—if they don't already. Just the thought makes her want to crawl in a hole and die. It'll be so embarrassing when they find out that she, the youngest and most accomplished OATS operator of DiZA, has been suspended for not being able to do her job properly. Her work ethic is all she has. Usually she rises above her classmates' taunts of being a workaholic by reminding herself that at least she's good at what she does.
Now she's just a pathetic try-hard who almost screwed up actual people's lives.
She should leave. Being around her workspace reminds her that she can't do anything here. She winds up in the cafeteria, because it's her second most frequented place on-campus.
The day has begun for most students, so the tables are quite packed. After grabbing a yogurt parfait, she looks around for an empty seat. By chance, she meets Xion's gaze, and the dark-haired girl waves amiably. Perhaps noticing Naminé's dilemma, she beckons for her to join their table.
Naminé hesitantly approaches, noting the rest of WINNER seated. Roxas acknowledges her with a nod while Axel continues boisterously telling a story.
"Hey Naminé, what's up?" Xion greets. "You don't have class?"
Naminé smiles awkwardly. Technically, she has mornings this week blocked off for OATS practicals, but because of her probation, they've been switched to study hall. Not that she wants to explain all that to Xion.
"I'm skipping," she explains, since technically that's not a lie.
"What? Miss Goody Two Shoes is skipping class?" Axel picks this moment to join the conversation (and use a very annoying label). "Next thing you know, Bossman's gonna finally buy all those coffees he owes us."
"That's legit never gonna happen," Roxas says.
"But hey, if Naminé's skipping class, I gotta believe anything's possible."
"Anyways, how're you?" Naminé hastily asks Xion, hoping to divert the conversation away from herself.
Xion smiles. "Not much! Just class and missions. We're actually headed to The World That Never Was for an away mission on Friday, so there's something to look forward to."
"World That Never Was?" Naminé repeats. "What's that?"
"Ah, it's one of the newer worlds that popped up recently. It was overrun by Heartless for a long time, but recently an independent group of researchers settled down there. I think they're called Organization XIII? Anyways, supposedly they have some cool stuff going on that they want to share with us, so we're gonna check it out."
"I heard they've been doing research on that new enemy everyone's been talking about," Axel chimes in. Naminé instantly hones in on this piece of information. "Honestly, the thought of bumping into one of those monsters scares me to death."
"You kept overreacting to every noise we heard during fieldwork the other day," Roxas complains.
"Well, Roxas, I don't want anyone to die."
Despite his petulant tone, Naminé senses the genuine fear behind Axel's words. During her mission, the invincible enemy (they really need a better name for it) had sent the entire OATS team into a frenzied panic, herself included, but she hasn't even began to consider what it must be like for the field team. Just the thought of an indestructible opponent must have all the field agents on guard.
"That's why we're following up on this sketchy lead," Xion points out. "Plus, you know how rare away missions are? I couldn't pass this one up!"
"Which explains why I found out about the mission when we got the reminder notification." Axel frowns. "Am I still leader of this team?"
"You never check your inbox so I go through it from time to time."
"We all know who calls the shots on this team," Roxas mumbles.
"What?" Axel exclaims.
"...it's whoever pays for our meals," Roxas finishes with a pointed look.
Axel stares back for a good 10 seconds before sighing and fishing out a bank card from his jacket. Before Roxas snatches it from him, Axel holds it out of reach and shoots him a stern look.
"No more than two scoops! Seriously, you're gonna get cavities from all that ice cream...and it's almost wintertime! Don't you get cold?"
"That's why they turn the heat on," Roxas smirks, grabbing the bank card. "Anyone want anything?"
"Hold up, you're definitely gonna get three scoops—I'm coming with you," Axel decides, jumping to his feet and following Roxas towards the desserts bar. Naminé watches, amused by Axel's parental role and Roxas' evident sweet tooth.
"Ooh, if they have chocolate chip cookies, me!" Xion shouts at their back figures. She then sighs. "I bet food's gonna suck while we're at The World That Never Was. Somehow I always end up missing this nasty ass cafeteria food when we're gone for too long…"
While she listens to Xion's internal monologue, a thought strikes Naminé. Of course, she was just moaning about not wanting to be here for the backlash when the student body finds out about her screw up! Why not actually leave so they have no one to bash?
"Xion," she suddenly asks, turning towards the dark-haired girl. "Can I go with you guys on your mission?"
"Huh?" Xion blinks. "Uh, I think we already have an OATS operator assigned for the journey…"
Naminé gulps. Her request probably sounds like it's coming from nowhere, especially since she and Xion aren't particularly close. How much of her situation should she reveal? How much of her screw up is she okay with sharing?
"To be honest…" Naminé winces at the thought of talking about a failure. "I'm skipping class cause I messed up the other day. I kinda just wanna get away for awhile, cause everything here reminds me of school." She sighs. "And I really don't know where to go."
Xion frowns sympathetically. "I get what you mean. Sometimes school can get overwhelming. But you know, don't be so hard on yourself! Everyone messes up sometime, even little miss perfect."
The label irks Naminé in some way she can't articulate. "I just don't like disappointing people."
"Why would anyone be disappointed? As long as you did your best!"
Xion's perpetual optimism can be exhausting at times, like now. Though Naminé's anxiety protests at the thought of sharing something personal, she feels the need to correct Xion's rosy-eyed view of her life.
"I really screwed up, Xion—people almost died."
Xion falls silent. "What happened? Was this a mission?"
In the back of her mind, Naminé hears a voice scolding her for breaking protocol and talking about the mission with unrelated personnel. "I wasn't fully prepared, there was something going on with the radar, and then this team of newbies just charged in—"
She cuts herself off, genuinely distressed thinking of the female agent still recovering in the hospital. Clearing her throat, she tries to meet Xion's eyes.
"I just need a break."
"Okay," Xion agrees readily. "I get that you're going through a rough time. Everyone needs a break every once in awhile! I'll talk to the mission handler and get the OATS operator swapped out."
Uh, that's actually the very logical conclusion to things that Naminé hadn't thought through. Unfortunately, she's pretty sure they'll deny the request once they see Naminé's on probation. And the last thing Naminé wants to do is to share the fact that she's grounded, for all intents and purposes.
"So, um, what if I just join as an audit?" Naminé proposes. "You guys let people shadow, right?"
"Yeah...but that's usually for younger students who haven't tracked yet."
Xion narrows her eyes, and it feels like she can see through Naminé's thinly veiled deception. A tense moment passes, and then Xion cracks a smile.
"You really wanna take a break and not do anything, huh? No worries, I'll ask if you can just tag along. It'll be fun!"
Naminé lets out an internal sigh of relief that her poorly conceived plan somehow worked. Thinking about it, she starts getting excited. Like Xion said, it'll be fun. Besides getting away from her gossipy classmates, she's also curious about this lead and figuring out their invincible enemy. It makes sense that DiZA is ramping up their investigations after the near fatality with Naminé's mission. Even if it might be a dead end, Naminé feels good about putting effort towards the cause.
It also ever so slightly alleviates some of the guilt.
The moment Axel and Roxas return with hands full of treats, Xion readily shares the news. "Naminé's joining us to The World That Never Was!"
"What? Okay cool," Axel shrugs, focused on his donut. Naminé snorts at their supposed leader's nonchalance.
"You gonna pull your own weight, Naminé?" Roxas asks with a raised brow.
Naminé rolls her eyes. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to pull some of yours as well."
Roxas always has to make things difficult, and belatedly she worries about going on an away mission with him. Okay, so even if this isn't a fun trip, it'll be a worthwhile one.
LOCATION: Hallway of Organization XIII headquarters, The World That Never Was
DATE: Friday, November 23rd 2X60
TIME: 1455 hours
A worthwhile trip, she reminds herself. A worthwhile trip.
She's been on The World That Never Was for a grand total of 55 minutes and she wants to go home. She's this close to blowing her top, and for once, it's not Roxas pissing her off.
"Do all LODers just miss social cues, or are you especially awkward?"
What does he mean by awkward? She clenches her hands, convinced she's gonna draw blood—from him.
"We just like being direct. We don't have time to waste, unlike people from HB who slack off all day cause you count on your robots doing all your work."
"Ha! Ironic that you call our defense system robots when you're the little robots running around at the beck and call of your dictator!"
"Are you making fun of our prime minister? Yours is just a shallow figurehead!"
The heated tension isn't wholly unexpected considering this person is from Hollow Bastion. The feud between their worlds runs deeper than both their ages added together. She wasn't expecting their presence at The World That Never Was.
"Our shallow figurehead actually cares for our wellbeing—hell, he even knows my name! I'm Sora, if you didn't know—which you don't, cause you didn't even bother to introduce yourself. All of you from LOD act so self-important but you have no basic sense of manners."
"Says the one who ran into the girl's restroom!"
"I said it was a mistake! The icon seriously looks like abstract art!"
"You're possibly the most annoying person I've ever met, Sora."
"Right back at you, Nameless Girl Who Still Hasn't Introduced Herself."
Seriously? Seriously? She left home for this?
"It's Naminé, you idiot."
A/N: Our main leads finally meet! Aka I have accomplished the main goal of this rewrite lol. I originally wanted Sora and Naminé to meet by the end of C2 but as I started (re)writing, I realized there was a lot of groundwork I wanted to lay out in terms of the AU world, character backgrounds, etc. Hopefully the buildup has been worth it, and from here on out we will def get a lot more interactions between the two worlds!
Thank you so much for all the favorites, follows, and reviews! It certainly brightens my day everytime a notification pops up in my inbox. As always, I'd love to hear what you like or dislike about the story so far! Sora and Naminé might have gotten off on the wrong foot, but that means things can only get better, right?
*author snickers*
I'm working hard to keep up with weekly updates for now, so keep an eye out for the next chapter next week! Until then, I hope you have a lovely rest of your day!
