Chapter SEVEN
Things I'm afraid of (and rightly so)
- Mom, when she's mad
- Peanut butter sticking on the roof of my mouth - haha I'm just kidding...but I recently found out this is actually a thing and cracked up for a good 10 minutes
- Trypophobia, and don't do what Sora did when he found out and gave me a lotus seed pod for Christmas
- Breaking a bone: that shit seriously hurts
- Losing...in more ways than one
A few seconds after I shut my eyes, something wet strikes my ribcage.
...well.
And that's that. Good game, everyone. Time to head home, cause I'm starving, and dinner better be good today.
Yeah, sorry if my life's sorta anticlimactic. But how dramatic do you think a teenage girl's life is gonna be?
As I open my eyes, I call out to Tidus, "Hey, can you give me a ride back - "
...wait, what?
"What are you doing, Kairi?" Before I can say anything, a hand latches onto my arm and tugs - hard. In fact, I almost fall head-first into the dirt, if I hadn't collided straight into Sora's freaking body.
"What the hell?" I shriek, pushing myself away from Sora - personal bubble, anyone? "What're you - wha - ?"
Sora doesn't give me a chance to talk before he grabs my wrist and pulls me past a shell-shocked Tidus. Why's he frozen in place? Why's he gazing off at the far distance? Is he gonne give me a ride home, or -
"ARGH!" Tidus suddenly growls. By now he's behind us, so I turn around to see what's up. Only then do I see a wet mark on his clothes, which means...he's out?
"Nice shot, Naminé!" Sora calls out.
Wait, what?
(That seems to be all I can say now.)
Someone chuckles lightly, and I turn towards the bushes on the side to see...Namine? Wait, wha -
Okay, seriously. I've got to start doing better.
"Wha - what are you doing here?" I ask, the corner of my mouth twitching upward. Hey, all I know is I'm happy to see my friend! Somewhat hesitantly, I wobble towards her and envelope her in a hug. Naminé pats my back but then hastily slips out of my embrace.
"Sorry, Kairi!" she says with a grin. "Let's get to somewhere safe first. The rest of Tidus' class is still out there."
I then remember the hoard of people who'd cornered us previously. "Right, where are they?"
"Let's go, Kairi!" Sora exclaims, ushering me and Naminé towards the entrance of the school building.
Once we get inside, I can finally catch my breath. Leaning on the wall, my back slides down until my ass hits the ground.
"...fuck, I'm exhausted," I complain, scratching my stomach. I then realize, "Hey, I got hit!" I exclaim, pointing at the wet patch on my shirt.
"Well, technically I got him out first, so it doesn't count," Naminé reasons.
"What are you doing here?" I ask. "I'm sooooo confused...and I'm so fucking tired," I groan, holding my head in my hands.
"I was finishing up a yearbook page due tomorrow," Naminé says. "Then, Sora texted me where you guys were." She holds up her phone, showing me his message.
NW BLUE
"What? What's that mean?" I ask.
"Oh, it means northwest building entrance, and you're surrounded," Naminé explains, followed by a laugh. "Sora and I were talking about how to call for backup if you were in trouble, cause you'd want the text to be as short as possible." She playfully smacks Sora on the arm. "See, I told you codes would come in handy!"
"I didn't say they wouldn't! We just spent a super long time memorizing them."
"But it paid off," Naminé concludes, glancing at her phone and then sneaking a peek out of the window. "Okay, I rounded up everyone in our class still on campus to fight off Tidus' class, but one of them just texted me and said they all got eliminated. According to their estimates, there are at least 3 more people out there."
"So it's 1-on-1. We can do that," I say, getting back into the groove of the game.
"No, we can't," Sora argues. "Naminé's our rep, remember? We can't just send her out and risk losing her."
"Thanks for trusting me, Sora," Naminé quips with a small grin.
"Wha - I...I mean - "
"Yeah, Sora, Naminé can manage herself. Hell, she even got Tidus out!" Just remembering the fact, I raise a hand in her direction to ask for a high-five. She obliges. "I owe you one!"
Naminé giggles. "I accept payment in vanilla lattes. But Sora's right - I probably shouldn't be running about as class rep. I don't wanna let the whole class down."
"So we," here Sora looks at me, "are gonna have to take care of things."
"Take care of what?" I ask, still a beat slower than everyone else.
Sora and Naminé exchange a smirk. I don't like this feeling of Sora and my bestie teaming up without me. Is anyone gonna fill me in on the situation?
"So," Sora begins, "here's the plan…"
Remind me when Naminé got so badass?
So, despite being the bait for our entire operation, she calmly strolls outside on school grounds as if she doesn't have a worry in the world. The perfect poker face, the perfect unsuspecting angelic look...and I see the boys have taken the bait: hook, line, and sinker.
"Hey, Naminé!" one of them calls out.
Naminé blinks and turns around. Her hair falls over a shoulder, and she tucks a stray strand behind her ear. I notice the boys momentarily falter.
I take notes like the good student (ha!) I am.
"Yes?" she asks, her voice reaching an impossibly high pitch. How does she make everything look so easy?
"Are you still in the game, Naminé?" one of them asks.
Naminé laughs girlishly - more note-taking. "What game are you talking about?"
"The Assassin game. For student council," he says, taking the chance to show-off by twirling a water gun in his hands. "Or are you out already?"
"Oh! Well, I haven't really thought about the game that much, to be honest." She laughs airily with a hand raised to her mouth, and I'm running out of brainspace to take more notes.
"...who are you texting?" Sora asks from my side. We're both ducked inside the school building, prepared to ambush on-call.
"Why do you care?" I return, rapidly typing into my Notes app. When I look up at him, I realize he's peering over my shoulder to read what I'm writing.
"...what the heck are you doing?" he says, not even trying to rein in the judgmental tone.
"None of your business, Sora," I say as I put my phone away.
"It literally says, 'How to flirt.'" Sora laughs. "Why are you thinking about that now?"
"I said, Sora, mind your own goddamn business."
Gosh, he can be so annoying. Hasn't he heard of something called privacy?
"That first thing makes no sense," he randomly says.
"Huh?"
"'Toss hair over shoulder'?" he recites. "What're you, filming a shampoo commercial?"
"Well, how do you - well, I mean - "
"Plus, s'not like your hair's long enough," he points out astutely.
Dammit. What's with him being Mr. Smarty Pants today?
"You shouldn't have to try to flirt - it should just come naturally, right?"
"And how's that been working out for you?" I ask, making a not-so-subtle jab at his relationship status. Or lack thereof.
Sora frowns, crossing his arms and looking at me. "I'm 17 - I don't need to be in a relationship."
"Exactly. You're already 17. There are some people around the world who are married by now."
"We're not those people. And we don't have to be."
...dammit how is it that I'm losing even more frequently to Sora these days? How did we even get to this topic anyways? I was just making fun of him not having a girlfriend!
Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have made fun of him?
"...but I think the most important thing is to remember that RED SOCKS, and I mean RED colored ones only, can make all the difference…"
Namine's voice distracts us whatever we were talking about. Quickly, we put our game faces on - cause that's at least one thing we can agree on: to win this thing. I double-check that my water gun's loaded and crawl towards the entrance so they don't see us through the windows. I hold my breath as Sora and I rest our hands on the door. He raises his hand with 3 fingers raised and mouths: 3...2...1…
"...so sorry, Naminé, but I'm gonna have to - agh!"
"Yeah, so beat it!" I exclaim, wielding my gun proudly. The guy I'd hit - smack middle of his chest, may I add - grumbles a little before stalking off. I tune in to Sora's battle.
"...shit. This is a new shirt."
"Oh. Sorry, man. 'S just water though. Should dry pretty quickly."
"True. Hey, good shot, Sora."
"Thanks, man. Good game."
And that's both of them! I turn towards Naminé with a beaming, expectant smile. Something in the back of mind keeps probing at my consciousness, like I'm forgetting something...but I can't figure it out. We took out both those guys…
Both = two guys…
"Oh, shit. Naminé!" I shriek, eying the last person creeping up on her from around the corner. How in the world did we forget that there are 3 guys lurking out here?
I raise my gun to aim at him, but because I'd just shot that other guy, I'm out of ammo. Frickity frick.
Sora's too far away to be useful, plus his gun's probably empty too.
I leap towards Naminé just in time before the guy raises his hand to aim his gun at her. Grabbing onto her shoulders, I twirl her around, placing myself between her and the attacker. And so, I close my eyes, embracing myself for impact once more.
...when 10 seconds of anticlimactic silence pass, I slowly open my eyes and look at Naminé.
A small grin hangs on her face. "You okay, Kairi?" she asks.
I blink, still a little confused. I'd almost gotten out twice today...but I haven't? I turn around to look at the guy who was trying to attack Naminé only to realize he'd turned around and was walking off. Wait a sec, why's his right shoe leaving wet footprints on the concrete…?
I turn towards Naminé, smiling sweetly and raising a dainty hand holding her water gun, dripping wet. "I found out I'm a pretty good shot!" she chirps.
...oh wow. Of course, how'd I forget Naminé has a weapon too? This game's just throwing me off my game.
A deluge of emotions strike me, and I'm a little overwhelmed. So...this is it, right? Finally? We've...won?
I'm still wrapping my mind around that fact, since I've had too many false finishes today.
Sora comes over, looking at me and Naminé worriedly. "Are you guys alright?" he asks, slightly out of breath.
My brain's still doing its wrapping thing, so Naminé answers. "Yup, no worries. I managed to get him out before he could shoot us!"
"Wow, Naminé, secretly a good shot too? What else are you holding out on us?"
"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"
Wrapping complete.
"YASSSSS!" I holler into the night sky, pumping both fists into the air. "WE WON! IN YOUR FACE, TIDUS!"
"Oh my goodness!" Naminé shrieks, taking a step away from me. "Kairi, you scared me!"
I chuckle sheepishly. "Sorry...not! My god, I'm just happy it's all over! FINALLY! I'm tired, and starving - let's go, I need like ten burgers or something."
"Don't you usually eat healthier during cross-country season?" Naminé asks, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. "Not that a burger doesn't sound good now."
"Hmm...pasta then? Yeah, pasta sounds good," I compromise.
"We can go to the Italian place that just opened on Center," Naminé suggests.
"Are you buying?" Sora asks.
"Hey, shouldn't you be buying?" I point out. "You're the only guy here."
"Well that's just sexist. Naminé should pay - her family's loaded."
"Your family's pretty well-off," Naminé points out.
"My parents do well too," I chime in.
"Okay, let's stop comparing families. Why don't we all just pay for our own," Sora says.
We continue our playful bantering as we head towards the school exit. Just as we're about to step out, a voice calls out my name.
"Kairi."
"Huh?" I twirl around, spying Tidus approaching with a scowl on his face. "You!" I exclaim with a raised hand pointing a finger at him.
"Yeah, me. Did you drive today?"
"No. I was gonna ask for a ride home. Why?"
"Agh. I don't wanna take the bus," Tidus complains. "How're you getting back then?"
"Naminé can drop me off. Right?" I pause, turning towards her with an expectant smile.
"Yeah, sure," Naminé agrees readily.
"Is there room in the car for one more?" Tidus asks, groaning as he stretches his back and shifts his backpack around a little.
"I - I guess…?" Naminé says somewhat hesitantly. "We're gonna grab dinner first…"
"You guys?" Tidus says incredulously, giving us a lookover. "You three? I didn't know you guys hung out."
I take a moment to consider Tidus' words. Me, Naminé, and Sora...he's right, we aren't exactly friends. Me and Naminé are BFFs, Naminé and Sora might've spent more time together recently, but Sora and I don't hang out, and definitely not the three of us.
"Hey, we just broke through that ambush you set for us!" Sora exclaims. "That deserves a celebration!"
The mention of beating Tidus brings a smile back to my face and a twitching scowl to his. "Yeah, Tidus, nice try! To be honest, that was a pretty good plan - did you think of it yourself, or - ?!"
"Ah!"
"What the - "
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Tidus bursts into giggles. "Now, who's got the last laugh?"
"Huh?!" Someone...got me. Someone got me with water from behind. I feel the bottom half of my pant leg sticking to my skin. Twirling around, to my surprise, I find…
"High-five, Yuna!" Tidus cheers, skipping past me and raising a hand to the brown-haired girl. Smiling serenely, it's hard to believe she just singlehandedly took me out.
"Frick, cause technically we're still on school grounds!" Sora exclaims. "That was smart, Yuna."
"Thank you, Sora. You're the first one to actually tell me that."
I turn towards my comrades - and oh, frick, the splotch of wet fabric on Naminé's dress means…
"We're all out," Sora concludes for us. He turns towards Tidus. "Was that the plan? To delay us till Yuna got here?"
"My plan, actually," Yuna corrects primly. "My Plan B. Plan A was supposed to work, if Tidus hadn't gone on with the theatrics and just eliminated Kairi…"
"Hey! I was just trying to set up the atmosphere!"
"But I took care of things," Yuna finishes with a smile.
"It was over before we even knew it began," Naminé remarks quietly.
"Sorry, Naminé. But you're the class rep, am I correct?" Yuna says with an expectant smile. The three of us sulk silently, unable to deny what Yuna said. "I'm surprised you were nominated, because I expected Kairi or Sora, but in hindsight, that was a smart move. And you're better at this game than I thought."
"Oh. Thanks, Yuna," Naminé says, mustering a small grin. "I feel like I've let everyone down though."
"There's no way you could've seen Yuna coming!" Tidus boasts. "Hell yeah, that means junior class A is out!"
"That's right!" Yuna exclaims cheerfully. "Sorry," she says, turning back towards us, "but it's senior year and everyone really wants to make it count." She beckons to Tidus. "C'mon, let's go update the rest of them! They're all getting pizza at the plaza!"
"Aww yeah, that's what I'm talking about! We gotta let Wakka know we've taken revenge for him!" Tidus chimes in eagerly. "Never knew you had a life outside of studying, you nerd..."
I stare at Yuna, with her brown hair and heterochromia, as she walks off with my cousin. She stands out in school because of the latter, and the fact that she likes wearing long, old-fashioned dresses. I've never had much of an opinion of her - who knew she'd get so into the game and be a better strategist than me and Sora combined? I thought senioritis, or college applications would be important to her. I guess I don't really know her.
"Oh, Kairi!" Yuna calls out. "By the way, congrats on getting in drama club!"
I blink. Huh? Oh, that's right, Yuna's president! How did I forget that?
"I guess that's good conciliation," Naminé remarks. "Congrats, Kairi."
"Funny. I didn't know you were interested in drama," Sora says.
"What do you know about me, Sora?" I challenge. That at least silences him - ha, yeah, I'm one up him again!
"So...how're we gonna tell everyone we just got the entire class out?" Naminé wonders aloud nervously.
Two pairs of eager eyes turn towards...me.
"Why me?" I complain.
"You're the leader," Sora points out. "I'm just a deputy."
"And I'm just the rep," Naminé adds. "You've taken responsibility for everything up till now - don't give up yet!"
"You guys just don't wanna be the bearer of bad news! What if they shoot the messenger?"
"I'm sure they won't," Naminé reassures in that soothing voice of hers.
"Yeah," Sora agrees, "they'll just blame you for the rest of the school year."
"Sora."
"Or at least until the cafeteria serves mac 'n cheese this Friday."
"...I can deal with that."
A/N: Can you tell this chapter was a pain to write?
I think I'm getting a little tired of writing Kairi's POV. At first it was so much fun cause she keeps things exciting and going, but now it's like: can you stop exaggerating everything? I do hope my cynicism hasn't crept (too much) into the text.
I don't know if you can see how Kairi and Sora's relationship is slowly shifting, and Kairi herself is also maturing? Let me know what you think about the character development! Also, let me know if you can't tell a difference at all...