A/N: Ug… I know, I know… This update is several days overdue. It's been a while since there's been a week between updates… Actually, this might be a first now that I think of it. Sorry! I went out of town for the 4th and I've had to work almost everyday since I got home. Excuses excuses, huh? Lol You guys can thank Thisismypennameok and his PM telling me to get my butt in gear for the update today.
Anyways, I have another suggestion for you guys to read!! "Giving In" by Silent Blade.
It's really good, and I should know! I've been editing for the guy: ) But seriously… he needs reviews… so read it and let him know what ya think, please!!
Now that that's out of the way… here's the next chapter. Hope it's worth the wait!
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The Roster
The Olympus Arena pulsated with tangible surges of energy, the stands crawling with bystanders and fans, each eagerly awaiting the start of the second day of preliminary rounds. Somehow, the four friends managed to squeeze through the mass of bodies surrounding the stands. Sora was eager to start their first round in a little while, and he couldn't help but look forward to meeting up with Tetsu and his team in the later preliminary rounds this afternoon. He was relieved to get back to their rooms the previous evening and find the final roster slid underneath each door. Their first preliminary rounds were against some minor Heartless teams of Shadows and Soldiers, and few Large Bodies and a couple of Neo-Shadows. Their last round of the day had turned out to be none other than Tetsu and the other three members on his team. Sora determined they would make a perfect warm up for the semi-finals and finals the following day.
The dark violet bruise on Sora's jaw was barely noticeable against his tanned skin, but it was a painful reminder to him and his friends of his 'disagreement' (as Sora had put it) with Tetsu the day before. The cut across the side of his neck had healed nicely, and only a thin line marked the spot where Tetsu's blade had drew blood. Sora couldn't help but walk towards the arena with the 'you-should-see-the-other-guy' mentality. I'm sure that Felice girl had quite a night cleaning him up… Sora chuckled to himself.
'It won't be the last night, eh Fuck-up? You think I fed you power yesterday… that was only a preview of what I can give you!' The shadow snickered devilishly.
Sora scowled, "Shut up," he muttered under his breath, earning him a sideways glance from Kairi.
The worried expression tied in Kairi's stance and the concern laced in her features did not go unnoticed by Sora as they made their way over the battle arenas. Rather, he tried his best to ignore her worry as he smiled eagerly and continued to ramble on and on about the tournament and trophies. Kairi's soft 'uh-huh's and 'oh really's were enough to satisfy Sora into thinking that she had completely forgotten about the fight with Tetsu the day before, and everything was back to normal.
Riku rolled his eyes and nudged Shai in the ribs. "This is Sora's way of pretending that nothing happened yesterday," he muttered under his breath. "What he doesn't realize is that Kairi's not buying it…"
"Ignorance is bliss…" Shai smiled warmly, causing her emerald green eyes to sparkle behind her long blond bangs that hung loosely from her ponytail. Riku felt his stomach flip-flop wildly as he smiled back, trying desperately to subdue the warm crimson he could feel rising in his cheeks. 'Damn it! Why does she have this effect on me! Maybe I'm getting sick. I should see a doctor after this tournament is finished…'
"Sora?"
Sora stopped his rant on which victory dance he planned on using in which battles and turned to realize that Kairi had stopped walking and was now several strides behind the rest of the group.
Riku and Shai stopped a couple feet ahead of Sora and turned around questionably. Riku opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but Sora interrupted before he could say anything.
"You two go on ahead, we'll catch up." Sora smiled assuredly. "We'll meet you guys outside the master roster before the fight."
Riku and Shai nodded to the brunette before turning on their heels, "Remember, nine o'clock is our first round. Don't you dare be late!" Shai called over her shoulder as Sora nodded and turned back to Kairi.
Sora couldn't help but compare Kairi to a lost child in a crowded mall as he approached her. She stood awkwardly with her arms across her chest, almost hugging herself, with her face knitted in apprehension. Her white combat outfit that Riku had bought for her did little to hide her uneasiness and only added to her angelic fragile features at the moment. Sora openly admitted that she looked absolutely stunning in the tight soft leather pants that hugged her hips oh so nicely. He quietly thanked Riku for that particular shopping trip as the friends had grouped in the hotel lobby for breakfast less than an hour ago.
However, her uneasiness was more than apparent and Sora suddenly felt a pang of guilt as her sad cerulean eyes met his and he realized that he was more than likely the cause of her current state.
"Kairi… Is everything ok?" he asked soothingly, his face softening in an attempt to ease her anxiety.
"Sora, what happened yesterday?" she asked softly, her voice light and airy and her pleading eyes never leaving his sapphire stare.
"Oh…" Sora gulped, "That…" Suddenly, Sora wanted to be anywhere in the universe but here. He'd rather fight Xemnas and Xehanort two-on-one than tell Kairi that he had beaten the bloody pulp out of some guy because he couldn't control his jealousy or anger. "Kairi… Tetsu… He…" Sora stuttered uncomfortably, "I saw him kissing another girl, and then he said some stuff about you… I only intended to hit him once, I just…" Sora trailed off, unable to keep Kairi's stare as he glanced around nervously.
"Sora, I couldn't care less about Tetsu kissing some girl." Kairi's stature suddenly changed, her voice dropped to a stern level and she straighten up her shoulders, "I care about you. I'm talking about you," she replied as she closed some of the distance between them."What the hell happened to you yesterday?"
"Me?" Sora asked confusedly. "Kai, what are you talking about?"
Kairi sighed, her features softening, "I've never seen you like that before, Sora. It was like you couldn't control yourself. All the smoke and lightening… It… it scared me."
And there it was again… that familiar pang of guilt that lay heavy in Sora's chest. It felt like a rock in his ribcage, weighing him down and burdening his breath to the point that he couldn't even look at the redhead in front of him. He averted his gaze to his yellow sneakers and shifted uncomfortably, "Kairi, I… I'm fine."
Kairi's soft fingers connected lightly under Sora's chin as she lifted his jaw and met his eyes sincerely, "Sora, what's happening to you?" she asked softly.
'Hey Fuck-up… this would be the part that you tell the redhead to piss off and go finish what you started with Blondie!'
Sora cringed at the snickering voice in his head, and suddenly remembered his promise to Riku in the bathroom at the bar back in Radiant Garden. He still hadn't told Kairi about the shadow's reflection… And the way things were going, it wouldn't be long before she found out on her own. Then she would really be upset that he hadn't told her… But he couldn't burden her with his own transgressions of shadowed reflections and dark voices; it would only make her worry more…
But as Sora stood there in the chaos of Olympus Coliseum, thousands of patrons surrounding him, all he saw was Kairi. Shining crimson locks that framed her face perfectly, large violet blue eyes behind thick dark lashes, and soft rosy skin that always smelled of vanilla… The love and concern that she had for him shown brightly in her eyes like fire and he felt lost in her presence. Lost… and not at all desiring to be found.
Sora's reverie was interrupted with Kairi's sweet voice and wide violet blue eyes, "Sora, please… tell me what's going on."
He sighed before tearing his eyes from hers regrettably and glancing at his wrist watch, "Kai… It's almost time for the first round. I do have something that I want to talk to you about, but we don't really have time right now."
He saw the disappointment flash across Kairi's face and he quickly grabbed her hands in his and caught her eyes with his own, "But, I promise… nothing is going to happen to me. I'm fine! Look…" he plastered a huge pearly smile across his face and posed with his hands on his hips and his chin in the air. "Good as new! See…"
Kairi couldn't help but giggle lightly at his antics, "Sora, you are such a goof…" How does he always know how to cheer me up?
"And this is news to you?" Sora smirked sarcastically, still grinning.
Kairi just answered with a lighthearted laugh as Sora turned back towards the arena. "Come on!" he called over his shoulder. "Shai will kill us if we're late meeting them!"
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"Damn it!" Riku scowled at the large plywood roster, his fist colliding with the wood loudly sending small splinters flying from the impact.
Shai rolled her eyes at his typical testosterone reaction before glancing at the large official clock at the gate beside the master roster. "Where are they?!" she questioned to no one in particular. "They better not be –"
"Late?" Sora interrupted.
Shai smirked before turning around to the brunette with a sarcastic smile. "'Bout time…" she joked half-heartedly. "I was starting to think you two had gotten lost."
Sora grinned in typical Sora-fashion before his eyes wandered over to Riku's scowl accompanied by the dent in the plywood roster beside him. "What's wrong with Riku? He seems even more pissed off than usual." Sora laughed light-heartedly.
Riku walked up to him, intentionally ignoring the latter part of Sora's statement. "They changed the line up." he huffed, pointing to the roster.
"Huh?" Sora peered past his silver-haired companion, searching the board for the supposed change in the line-up. "What are you talking about? I don't see a… oh…" Sora's face fell and he sighed heavily.
The board was marked with several pieces of paper with their new opponents written neatly on each, completely obscuring the painted original opponent underneath... The same original opponents that had also been typed on the master roster that had been slid underneath their doors yesterday evening… The list that Sora still had crumpled up in one of the many pockets of his black combat outfit…. Of course, that was all before Sora's 'disagreement' with the tournament coordinator.
Sora pursed his lips and could feel the annoyance and anger bubbling inside of him, "You mean Tetsu changed the line up…" he growled, spitting out Tetsu's name like a bad seed.
It seemed that conveniently enough, Tetsu had even gone as far as completely scratching his team from the preliminaries all together. The only opportunity Sora would get to 'finish what he started' (as the Shadow had put it) would be in the first round of the semi-finals tomorrow.
"Well whoever changed it doesn't matter Sora!" Riku answered irately. "This is bullshit!"
"What's wrong with it?" Kairi asked as she peeked over Sora's shoulder on her tip toes, steadying herself with her hand on his arm, her cerulean eyes scanning the huge board in front of them.
"Oh nothing…" Riku answered sarcastically as he waved his hand in the air and turned back towards Shai. "It's just that now we're fighting basically all the hardest Heartless teams in the preliminaries! Even if we do make it to the semi-finals tomorrow, we'll be way too tired to do anything about it!!" He moaned as he turned back towards the group.
"Oh, we'll make it to the semi-finals." Sora replied darkly, his eyes fixated in front of him on an unseen target. His hands subconsciously balled into fists at his side as his glare lifted to the master roster. "That I'm sure of…"
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A/N: I know, I promised the start of the actual tournament for this chapter. Sorry! (Man I just realized that I don't keep a whole lot of my promises to you guys) hehe… (grins)
But the idea of Tetsu changing the line up of the tournament came to me and I had to play it up. Haha… Tetsu's a lil scared of Sora now, huh? So scared he even went through the trouble of trying to get rid of Sora's team in the preliminaries with all the hardest Heartless teams…. Hm, could be interesting… : )
So you know… Review and all that jazz!