Author's note: honestly this chapter turned out completely different than what I expected it to. Sora and Kairi just kinda did their thing and I went with it. Next chapter should be more back on track to what I had originally planned.
I CAN BARELY SAY
Chapter Thirteen: Winter Chills
It was all too clear that winter was beginning to loom over the islands as Sora laid in his bed, the chill in his room tempting him to stay under the covers and go back to sleep. Just yesterday he had been in a world that was in the midst of summer and he already missed it so badly. Sure, the islands didn't get nearly as cold as it did on other worlds during the winter, but it was cold enough.
Groaning a bit as he rolled out of bed and put his feet on the cold floor, he quickly scurried from dresser to dresser to change into jeans, a long sleeve shirt and a hoodie, leaving his dirty clothes in his wake. Finishing the rest of his morning routine, he nearly bumped into his mom after opening the door to the bathroom.
"You're up early for a Sunday." She laughed.
"Gotta take advantage of my free time." He grinned, taking a step out of the door so he could let her in.
She lingered in the doorway, turning slightly towards him, "So you're on your way out, then?"
"Yeah. I've got some things I wanna talk about with Riku and Kairi. But since it's Sunday, they both always have homework, papers, yadda yadda." He made a talking motion with his hand, "So I'll be back probably long before dinner."
His mom shook her head with a smile, reminding him, "You know you'll have to worry about all that stuff again soon, right?"
Sora gave an over dramatic sigh, "Don't remind me. I won't worry about it till school actually starts."
Two weeks ago he had finally gotten the time, as well as the bravery, to venture over to the university. Along with a letter from the high school, Riku and Kairi had both personally stopped by to see the dean's office about Sora's situation. He was thinking they would give him a hard time, especially because he still had no idea what he even wanted to do, but they turned out to be very accommodating.
Unlike Kairi and Riku, he was going to only be a part-time student. But, he would also take classes during summer and winter while they had breaks. That way, he had a workload he could handle but also wouldn't get too far behind. After they had gotten that down pact, they started talking about majors so they could help him pick out what classes to take. Though they discussed a few with him, they all decided it was best for him to stay undecided for a semester or two and signed up for general education classes.
And with that, he was officially going to be a university student in January.
"It's only little less than two months away!" She replied in a sing-song voice.
"Meh." Sora grumbled as he started to walk away, "I'll see you later." His mom laughed and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
The brisk air hit him even harder the moment he walked out the door, the wind cutting against his face and encouraging him to walk even faster. While he was glad Kairi's apartment was closer than her parents' house was, he was still wishing that she lived as close as Riku did so that he wouldn't have to deal with cold. Even after putting up his hood and tucking his hands in his pockets, he felt very little relief.
By the time he knocked on their door, his teeth were chattering and it felt like forever while he waited for the door to open.
Selphie answered, still in her pajamas and music blaring from the earphones dangling from her neck. She gave him a tired wave and retreated back inside, leaving the door open, "Morning. Kairi's still asleep."
Stepping inside and closing the door behind him once he had ditched his shoes, he followed her into the living room and asked quietly, "Really? Isn't it almost 9:30?"
She shrugged, taking a spot on the couch and curling her legs underneath herself. Draping a blanket over her legs, she went back to reading the magazine that she had left on the table.
Making his way to Kairi's door, he tapped it lightly with the back of his hand and heard her answer, "Come in!"
Opening the door and poking his head in, he commented, "So, you are awake." She was still laying down in her bed, almost completely covered by her comforter.
"Sort of." She mumbled in response, "I didn't really expect you to be up this early, either."
"Sorry." He closed the door and took a seat on her bed, letting his legs dangle over the side but twisting his torso towards her.
"It's okay." She reached one of her hands out of the blanket to lightly grasp his, closing her eyes and smiling as she asked, "So, how'd it go?"
He made a face and shrugged, "Okay. Not a whole lot happened… But I do have some exciting news for you."
Kairi peeked one eye open at that, intrigued, "Oh? And what's that?"
"If you can get off work, I've got a trip coming up that you and Riku could come along for shortly after your birthday."
He hadn't even finished talking by the time she had sprung up into a sitting position, her face very close to his as she asked, "Really?"
Sora squinted at her and let out a little laugh, "Of course really. I wouldn't lie about that."
"I'll go in today and talk to my manager." Kairi seemed like she was ready to jump out of bed and run down to the coffee shop right at that exact moment, her voice very rushed, "So what are the dates, exactly?"
"It's the tenth and the eleventh. But don't you have a shift tomorrow?" He held her shoulders, "I don't think waiting till then will really make a big difference."
She sighed, but admitted, "I know. I'm just really excited." She kissed his cheek, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He smiled at her before she slipped out of his grasp and off the bed. Tilting his head, he asked, "So where are you going?"
"Just to the bathroom. I'll be right back." She moved towards the door.
"Oh. Okay." He continued to sit up for a few moments after she left the room, but eventually found himself stretching out across her bed and closing his eyes.
Before he realized what happened, he heard Kairi's voice from above him, "I leave for five minutes and you fall back asleep?"
She tried her best to give a stern glare but when Sora blinked his eyes open and looked up at her with a grin, she couldn't help but smile.
"It's cold and your bed is comfy." He replied sleepily, watching her move closer to him.
Leaning over him, she asked, "You haven't had breakfast yet, have you?" She was still wearing her pajamas, pink plaid pants as well as a white t-shirt with some sort of graphic on it, but her hair had obviously been brushed through.
"Nope." Sora closed his eyes again and Kairi rolled hers. After several sleepovers throughout their childhood, Riku and Kairi had both found out fast that Sora was hopeless in the mornings before he had food.
"Well that explains everything." She stood back up, acknowledging with a faked sigh, "I guess I'll have to make something for you."
"Pancakes?" He suggested eagerly, tilting over onto his side to face her.
Kairi shrugged, "I guess I can do that."
"Thank you." He grinned again before plopping back down and closing his eyes.
Kairi huffed as she walked back over to the bed and pulled on the sleeve of his hoodie, "That doesn't mean you get to go back to sleep! You should at least go sit out in the living room and keep me company while I'm cooking."
"Why can't Selphie do that?" He asked in a tired grumble.
She pouted, still pulling on him, "She already started getting ready for work. Pleaaase."
"Okay, fine…" He finally sat up and slid off the bed, kissing her to make up for the hard time he was giving her.
After somewhat accepting his apology, she led him out to the living room and dropped him off by the couch, warning, "Don't fall back asleep!" After rounding the corner and going into the kitchen, she gave him another testing look from behind the bar.
Sora waved her off, laying down across the couch but made sure that he was still facing her so she wouldn't complain. The couch wasn't nearly as comfortable as her bed had been, but it was still tempting to shut his eyes and go back to sleep. But any time he tried, he would immediately hear some sort of loud groan from Kairi. "I'm just blinking! Am I not allowed to do that?" He looked over towards her with a frown.
"I'm pretty sure blinking doesn't require you to close your eyes for five seconds or more." She retorted, her back towards him as she focused on flipping the pancake she was currently working on.
Followed by the sound of a door closing, Selphie walked out into the living room wearing a black dress, tights, and a nice pea coat. "I'm going to go ahead and get out of here before you two kill each other." She gave them both a small glance, turning back to Kairi as she said, "I'll see you later tonight."
Kairi turned around with a small laugh, "Bye, Selphie. Hope you have a good shift."
"Bye." Sora echoed.
"Thanks!" Selphie answered before heading out the front door.
Sitting up a little, he asked, "So where does she work, anyway?"
"She's a waitress at the Boathouse." Kairi answered as she turned back to the stove.
He shook his head, "Figures she would work at the fanciest place on the island."
"What can I say, she works really hard for what she wants. She makes really good tips too." She added as she put the last pancake at the top of her pile, then reaching up to turn off the stove.
Seeing that the food was done, he sat up straight and moved his feet to the floor, "Did you ever think about working there?"
She shrugged, admitting with a small smile, "Kind of. But I like where I work… I think being a waitress would just be too hectic. Plus Selphie is… Selphie. I'm sure I wouldn't get nearly the same amount of tips that she does." She turned and opened the refrigerator door, digging out things that Sora couldn't see.
"I disagree." He answered immediately.
"You're a little biased, don't you think?" She peeked up at him for a moment as she worked on putting together their plates.
"Maybe, but c'mon, Kairi. Even if you're not as outgoing as Selphie, you're still definitely really good with people. And your looks alone would win some people over." With a slight frown, he looked to his feet and admitted, "I saw how some guys looked at you at school, but most never said anything to you since me and Riku were always around."
"Yeah, and I'm glad for that, because I really don't like that sort of attention." She gave a loud, annoyed sigh, "After I went through that whole serial dating…thing… I snapped on a few guys. Even got labeled as a psycho for a little while." She let out a little laugh, "But whatever; they deserved it."
Sora snorted, "Well, I know how strong you are, so I know better than to piss you off."
"Which is why you're the one that's sitting here in my apartment about to be served breakfast." Kairi waved him over to the dining room table.
Grinning, he jumped up and made his way over to the table, where Kairi placed his plate of pancakes, strawberries and whipped cream in front of him as he sat down. His mouth falling open in surprise, he commented, "Wow. I was just expecting plain pancakes, not all this. Thanks, Kai!"
She squinted, seemingly caught off guard. She put down a glass of orange juice next to his plate before standing back up with her hand on her hip, "Thanks, but… Kai?"
"I, uh…" He stuttered, unsure of what to say, "I don't know. It just came out."
"Hmm." She hummed to herself as she put down her own plate and glass of juice across from him.
Sora watched her as she sat down, "Should I not call you that?"
She shook her head and started to cut into her pancakes, "No, it's okay."
"Are you sure?" He asked softly, still not touching his food.
She put her silverware down and looked back up to him, "Really, it's fine. I have a few bad memories associated with that nickname, yeah, but that's not your fault. Keep using it and turn it into something positive; I'd rather you do that than avoid it." She nudged his legs with her feet, causing him to smile.
He let out a little breath of air, "Okay." With a pause, he added, "I know you don't like talking about everything that happened when I was gone but… I'm still pretty much completely in the dark, here. You've helped me a lot with everything I've been going through, so it'd be nice to be able to return the favor."
"I know." She frowned, "I will, I promise. It's not even anything that serious, it's just that we're pretty much always having fun together and I don't want to ruin the moment."
Sora smiled and laughed a little as he asked, "So what, we need to set aside a day to talk about negative stuff?"
"Maybe." Kairi smiled, too. "Now eat your food before it gets cold." She reached over and stuck her fork into one of his pancakes, ripping off a small piece from the edge and eating it.
Sora made a circle with his arms and shielded his plate while giving her a half-hearted glare, "No, stop it! I'll eat now."
"Good." Kairi went back to eating her own food, asking a few moments later, "So, what are your plans for the rest of the day?"
He took a bite and spoke while he chewed, "Stay here for a little while, then go talk to Riku about the trip as well. That's about it. I figured you'd both be starting to study for exams."
She sunk down into her chair, "I should, but I don't want to."
Sora watched her curiously, "Seems like you actually want me to distract you from your work for once."
"Maybe I do." She nudged his leg with her foot again, careful to keep her expression neutral and to focus on the little food that she had left.
Finishing his plate and laying his silverware on top of it, he smirked, "Guess you must have really missed me this time."
"I always miss you when you're gone." She batted her eyelashes over dramatically as she stood up, taking her plate and reaching out to take Sora's.
He caught her hand, answering, "More than usual, I mean. But anyway, let me do the dishes since you made this for me."
She smiled as she slipped her hand out of his, gently putting her plate down on top of his, "Thanks." She touched his shoulder briefly before heading back out into the living room.
After gathering all the dishes and dumping them into the sink, he looked up at Kairi as he let the water run. She was in the same spot that he had been early, though she was watching him contentedly instead of falling asleep. He smiled to himself as he spread the dish soap and began to scrub everything down with the brush he had found lying behind the faucet.
Once everything had been rinsed and placed in the drying rack, he finally made his way over to Kairi. She looked up at him with a sweet smile, pointing to his face, "You've still got a little whip cream right here."
He had an idea of what her agenda actually was, but he played along. "Really?" He stuck out his tongue and licked the corner of his lips.
"I'll get it." She held out one of her arms and motioned him towards her, "Come here." She reached up to lightly cup his face and kissed him just below his cheek, which to his surprise actually did have whip cream on it. Nonetheless, she still did exactly as he thought she would; swiftly moving towards his lips, as well as reaching out to tug on his hoodie so that she could pull him down, closer to her. After a few minutes of awkwardly leaning over, Sora pulled away long enough to kneel down on the couch before kissing her again.
Though he had been the one to initially start letting his hands wander, Kairi surprised him when her lips and tongue strayed downward. His breath caught in his throat as she made a trail across his jaw line and down the side of his neck, lingering there for a moment. Sora relished the sensation, closing his eyes and letting out the breath of air that he'd been holding in. Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore.
"Kairi." He called out her name and she immediately stopped, looking up at him curiously.
Sora crashed against her again, kissing her roughly and almost as desperately as he had when he first returned home. She smirked against his lips as she realized that she had the power to affect him like that any time she wanted. She kissed him back with equal force until he started to ease her backwards onto the couch.
He followed the same path as she did, though his kisses were lighter and he was a little more adventurous, managing to wander all the way down to her collar bones. He wanted to make her feel just as good, and the little gasps and noises that Kairi made let him know that he succeeded. Pushing his weight off of her, he hovered over her to kiss her again; this time slowly and tenderly. After he pulled away again, he sat up straight and moved a little bit away from her, admitting, "I've gotta stop or you really will get nothing done today." Laughing a bit, he glanced back at her to add, "And I need to get to Riku before he dives headfirst into his books, too."
"That's fair." Kairi smiled as pushed herself up, smoothing out her shirt once she had done so. "I love you." She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, lingering by his ear as she continued, "Tell Riku that he better be able to come."
Sora raised an eyebrow, "Or else…what?"
"I don't know yet. I'll think of something." She pulled away from him with a pout.
"I love you too." He briefly brushed his hand against her arm as he stood up, "Definitely keep thinking about that threat. Riku's too busy for his own good, so we'll probably need it."
