Meh. I guess this chapter is interesting plot-wise, but im not happy with the writing. Especially toward the beginning. Oh well. Maybe Ill edit it later. I have so much drama at home right now; a lot is changing. And im just trying to cope. So, sorry about that. Just right now, i need to get this up, regardless of the quality. But i promise the quality will be back to normal next chapter. And anyway, this is meant to be a carefree story that i will have fun writing. So im trying not to stress out too much about it. Which was the purpose. So yes. If some of the grammar is awkward, totally my bad. Just try and enjoy :)

With all this happy story nonsense, i have a few oneshots lined up that i will hopefully put up soon. And are also of better quality. I just gotta finish them, really. Totally opposite to the mood of this story. Its nice to have contrast. That way, whatever mood I'm in, i can write something. So get excited for those. But for now, enjoy, and REVIEW PLEASE. i got less reviews than the first chapter! Lets make it to 10, yes? Ill work hard, i promise. reviews are what i need to bring my brooding mood up, and hopefully get some more stories typed up. so. REVIEW. not to hard. And thanks to the ones who did. :)

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[ Of Snow, Winter Wonder, and Relentless Boys ]

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Chapter 3

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Needless to say, there was an extremely awkward silence.

Skiers continued to rip by them, dodging at the last second around the bend and swearing as they disappeared with only a puff of snow; but the two barely paid attention. Kairi could not for the life of her take her daggering eyes off of Sora's. She could feel the anger envelop the awkwardness and swallow it whole. She could feel it clouding her mind. But not her reaction time. Sora, on the other hand, could not look away due to being chronically dumbstruck. Never in a million years could this happen. This could never happen.

Then why is this happening?

Sora did not know Kairi well at all, but by the look of her face he could tell she wasn't pleased to see him.

"I liked your text this morning." her eyes were blazing and, frankly, Sora wasn't able to look away even though he desperately wanted to. He opened his mouth too speak, but nothing came out. Man, he really did it this time.

"What? You don't talk now?" Kairi spit. She was on fire. The snow practically melted beneath her feet. She was on a rampage. All would fall in her path if this kid didn't leave her line of vision in three seconds. She watched as he still didn't move, his mouth still half open, unsure of what to say. Pathetic.

"Whatever, dickweed."

With that she turned her back to him and bent down to pick up her poles. It was better to leave it here. It was better to walk away before she really exploded. But then she heard his voice. She was not expecting a response, especially one with this much force behind it.

"Hey, I'm not a dickweed."

Kairi slowly lifted herself up so she could look into his eyes equally burning eyes. His mouth was no longer pathetically hanging either, nor were his eyes confused and calculating. They almost looked kind of mad. For a second, she was struck by this. Never had she been able to compare the word "burning" with eyes as blue as that. It was almost ironic. And he really didn't seem the type to get angry like this too often. Well, he deserves it. The shame that led to his anger, that is. Oh, this boy was going to get it.

"Really now? So you're saying that telling a girl, that you barely know by the way, that she was a regretted mistake through a text, doesn't qualify as a dickweed move? Especially when you didn't at least text said girl to see if she got home safely after a series of unwise, alcohol-induced events? " She could see him grit his teeth at this.

"You're right, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry. But I'm not going to stand here and let you accuse me of being a dick. Because I'm not." Kairi was barely aware that they were closer now from confrontation, and that their voices were raised significantly higher. His eyes were even brighter with anger up close.

"Well you're not doing a very good job at giving a great first impression then, are you?"

He sighed heavily and shook his head as if she were completely missing the point. Which she wasn't. At all. God. Why did she ever hook up with him in the first place? What a loser. She watched as he turned around and started walking up the hill.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kairi asked with venom. He turned around, his hands outstretched slightly as if he were asking, what? His eyebrows were knitted as if she were the most complicated female in the world. So not true.

"I'm getting your skis for you."

Kairi flushed. "I can get them myself." she snapped as if he were committing a sinister act. She watched as he scooped up her skis and turned back toward her. He ignored her statement, which really irritated her. Like, really irritated her. If there was one thing Kairi hated, it was being ignored. He made his way back to her and put the skis down. He looked at her for a moment with an unreadable expression on his face. She got the impression he was kind of irritated, too. Because of the slope, he towered over her, making it necessary for her to look up in order to see his face. She didn't like this. Although slope or not, she didn't realize how tall he really was.

"Aren't you going to say thank you?" he asked, his tone exasperated and tired. Even sort of sad. This confused her. But she considered his question. Technically, it was a nice thing that he just did. And she really could have done it herself. Yet again she was still mad at him. Clearly. But neither was she a bad enough person to ignore a good deed.

His eyes were big and blue and searching. She realized that this is something she did not notice the other night. But they were too blue. Like, unnatural, blue. Maybe it was the white backdrop. And seeing them angry before just didn't match up. Still, his eyes were serious and unrelenting. They made her uncomfortable. Kairi didn't like feeling uncomfortable.

But then she sighed, reminding herself that she could only be a bitch when the situation was right. But after this, it was back to being Bitch Kairi. Because she was still mad. Douche.

"Thank you." she was surprised that it didn't sound too snippy at all. Which she guessed was good. At least he didn't get the wrong impression. He did a sort of closed-mouthed, polite, one-sided smile before he turned back around. Well, now that that was over, Kairi felt that she had the full right to be a bitch again. Because, like, he did write a dickweed text to her.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Kairi and Sora both turned around to the loud voice behind them. She felt her stomach do a flip when she realized it was Reno making sure they -- she, of course -- was okay. She smiled at him, pulling a full 180 on the mood-o-meter.

"Yeah, we just sort of crashed. Sorry." Now Kairi knew fully well that there was absolutely no need to apologize. However, this was Reno. And Kairi wanted to not be Bitch Kairi when, around Reno, she should definitely be Nice Kairi. He took a quick glance at the boy behind her and then looked back at her. She watched as he smiled at her.

"Okay, well just suit up and come down. We're waiting for you." he said looking straight at Kairi and completely ignoring Sora. (Score!) With one last smile and a whip of his ponytail, Reno was gone. Satisfied, Kairi turned back around, put her helmet, goggles, skies, and poled back on and got ready to launch. But when she looked up, Sora was gone. Confused, she looked downhill to see him making the turn around bend of trees, out of sight. She wrinkled her nose at this, but then skied down to join the rest of the group.

-

Lunch came around after a few runs on the slopes, and Kairi was none too pleased.

Yuffie and Rikku kept poking her suggestively, and then realized that she was pissed off, launched into an interminable probing of why she was so pissed off. "Later, I promise." Kairi kept whispering to them. But Kairi should have known that this would not quiet their curiosity. They were Rikku and Yuffie, after all.

So Kairi sat there eating her gooey lasagna as her two friends continued to poke her on both sides. But Kairi decided that making a show of this would not help her chances with Reno whatsoever. So for one of the few times in her life, Kairi stayed resigned. But otherwise it was nice to see the faces of her classmates, all puffy and red from the chill, instead of the backs of their coats and the reflections of their goggles. She realized she was right when she guessed that she recognized that the one, more rotund, kid was once in her group a long time ago. Although for the life of her she could not remember his name. The two other boys, other than said boy and Sora, looked only slightly familiar.

One boy had what looked like jelled up blond hair and a confident smile. She wasn't 100 percent sure if it was gel; it could easily be that it naturally sticks up like that. Like, look at Sora. His wasn't gelled, yet it was odd and messy in its own way. With displeasure, Kairi then remembered she knew this because she spent half the night with her hands in it. Kairi almost shuddered. She felt embarrassed just thinking about it. Anyway, the kid also had camo pants and a black and tan coat. He was constantly pulling jokes with the boy she recognized, and one of the other girls.

The other boy had spiky blond hair and was quiet. He was in a conversation with Sora, so Kairi guessed they came together or something. Which gave her an automatic prejudice against him. True, it was sort of harsh and absolutely unprecedented. But she was human, right? Like, she was sure he was a nice kid, but she was not about to approach him eagerly to be friends. No way. Although she did give him major credit for his sick pair of checkered snow pants and white coat.

The two other girls she didn't really recognize at all. One of them, who seemed to be friends with two of the boys, had odd brown hair and deep green eyes. Not as bizarre as Rikku's, but definitely green. She had an orange coat and tan snow pants with Hawaiian flowers. Yuffie was a little bitter about this, claiming that she copied her style. The other girl was blonde and wore absolutely all white. She didn't really talk to any one, which Kairi sort of felt guilty about. She recognized her as the girl who first rode up the ski lift with herself and Rikku and Yuffie.

So ignoring Yuffie and Rikku, Kairi tried to make eye contact with the blond girl who sat across from her. It was a challenge, to say the least. It was as if she looked everywhere but Kairi. God, this was exhausting. Did she notice she's been staring at her for a full minute in an attempt to be friendly? If so, maybe that's why she wasn't looking at her. Cool. She thought she was a freak. But finally she did meet Kairi's eyes, so Kairi smiled.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around here. What's you're name?" The girl looked slightly confused to why Kairi was speaking to her, but smiled back slightly.

"Oh, yeah. This is my first winter here. I'm Naminé." she answered, looking between Kairi and her two friends, who were now paying attention to the girl, much to Kairi's relief. For a second, Kairi lifted her eyes as if someone was staring at her. She looked down the table to see Reno meet her eyes, gave an approving smile, and then went back to his conversation with Tifa. Sometimes, Kairi thought smiling, it paid off to be Nice Kairi. But then she met eyes with Sora, who was also looking at her with another one of his unreadable expressions. He looked away first, and Kairi wondered if he saw her act of kindness toward Naminé like Reno did. Stalker.

With excitement of meeting a new friend, Yuffie nearly shrieked, "No way! Where did you ski before then? You're really good. I bet the place you were at before wasn't as cool as here though. Like, this place is the best place in the world. What kind of skis do you have? They look mega sick." Naminé looked overwhelmed with both the amount of questions asked and the vigor behind them. Kairi couldn't blame her. It took a while to get used to Yuffie.

"Umm…" but Naminé wasn't able to finish her thought, to her relief, because Tifa made an announcement.

"Now that we can see everyone's faces, we're gonna get acquainted. So, just go down the line, say you're name, and…you're favorite ice cream flavor or something?" Reno shook his head at this with laughter. Tifa shoved him playfully and then nodded her head toward Reno after she re-declared her name and said her favorite ice-cream was plumb. This slightly grosses Kairi out, but didn't think about it too much because Reno was about to speak.

"Again, Reno, and probably prune." At this, Reno burst out laughing as if he shared an inside joke with Tifa, who currently hit him on the shoulder with a red face. Kairi was curious to what exactly happened to spur this inside joke, and Kairi, much to her surprise, felt jealous toward Tifa. This was weird. She watched as they continued to laugh until Reno nodded his head at the blonde boy.

"Roxas; sea-salt." Kairi couldn't help but note that he really did look like a Roxas. It was a weird quirk that she had. Whenever she was introduced to someone, she always tried to fit together the name with the person. If she felt that it didn't match, she would try to think of a different one. It was odd really, and she had never admitted this to anyone.

Sora was next. Kairi's lip twitched with a slight grimace, "Sora. Blueberry." This was an odd flavor, one that Kairi had never personally tasted. But she was sure it was bad. Because Sora liked it. So that meant it sucked.

"Naminé; mango." Kairi realized she really liked her name. She also loved mango. It was her second favorite. Yuffie was next, who was on the other side of the table with Kairi.

"Yuffie, and rainbow sorbet!" Kairi laughed. She remembered when Yuffie first told her this when they were twelve. She didn't even know it existed then. Kairi realized it was her turn, and felt inexplicably nervous.

"Kairi, and definitely lemon." God, Kairi felt like she was in a lame summer camp with all these awkward icebreakers.

"Rikku, with two K's, mind you, and lemon also." Kairi smiled at this. Rikku and herself tended to be very similar is a lot of things. It was one of the reasons they were such good friends.

"Pence, and I don't know. They're all pretty good." So that was his name…it rang a bell now. She would have to mention this to him sometime soon.

"Hayner; sea-salt." Kairi watched as the boy names Roxas made eye contact with him shortly, and then looked away. There was always some sort of automatic bond when you find out that someone else has the same favorite ice cream. It's magnetic, practically. Neither said anything else after that.

"Olette; and either vanilla or chocolate…or both." Kairi also really liked her name.

"Ok, cool. So, um, after this we're gonna do just a few more runs and then you're out by 1:00. That's the rule. So lets do Bull's Run first, and then we'll decide what to do from there. And be careful and keep up; it's a Black."

"Yup, lets go kiddos." Reno said standing up. Kairi was sort of irritated by this. By no means was she a "kiddo". They all suited up, Kairi pointedly trying to ignore Sora completely while this process was taking place. She felt that this pattern would be repeated in the future. Kairi got a rush of both sadness and irritation once this thought crossed her mind. She would never admit it, but Kairi really was sort of hurt by his text. I mean, what girl wants to be referred to as a mistake? Especially when, in a way, Kairi had put her trust in him? It was sort of an implied rule of hooking up. Like, if Kairi hadn't of seen something she liked in Sora, if she hadn't of trusted him to some degree, she wouldn't have hooked up with him. She was particular like that. Putting yourself out there like that takes a lot of guts. And to be shot down…its embarrassing. Even if it was only between the two of them.

Rikku furrowed her eyebrows, "You okay, Kai?" Kairi nodded her head without looking at her. She hated looking vulnerable, but right then, it was almost suffocating how lonely she felt. Maybe it was hormones or something, but Kairi really didn't like feeling this way. Kairi looked up and realized that Sora was only a few feet away. She really hoped he didn't hear Rikku, or look at her face. He was the last person who needed know that she was effected by all that happened today. But she couldn't be sure at all. So Kairi quickly lifted her pink neck warmer over her mouth, strapped on her goggles and helmet, and made her way outside with her two best friends at her side; hopeful that the joy of winter skiing would help her shake off this mood.

-

After more runs down the slopes, Kairi was just about ready to collapse.

"Dear…god…am I tired." Yuffie gasped between breaths as they finally reached the meeting place and promptly fell to the snow in exhaustion. Soon, Rikku and Yuffie joined her with both their tongues hanging out dramatically for show. Kairi laughed at this and then sat down next to them with her skis still in tact. It was a rather odd feeling when you knew you were somehow sweating and tired yet still frigid from the outside temperature. It was enough to confuse the body greatly. And confusion meant tiredness. And tiredness meant sleep. Which is what Kairi really wanted. A nap. Especially after this crazy day.

She felt a weight drop down beside her and looked over to see an orange coat; Olette, she remembered her name to be. Kairi watched as she removed her brown hat and goggles to reveal her pink cheeks and runny nose. "Man, am I tired. That last run was killer. I swear moggles are the death of me."

Kairi laughed at this. "Yeah. It's by far the least fun part of the whole institution of skiing. And they're all over the Blacks. I mean, who invented them? And why?" Olette laughed at her rave. Kairi watched the pleasant contrast between her eyes and the white of the snow.

"Definitely." Olette agreed. Just then Kairi sensed a shadow cast over her as she looked up to a pair of baggy army pant and thick ski boots. The low sun cast an odd light effect around the silhouette of the boy.

"You just can't handle them, Olette. Only the pros know how it's done." the boy sniffed, poking the brunet girl in the forehead. Kairi, after a few moments of thought, remembered that his name was Hayner.

"I can beat you in a race and you know it." Olette giggled. Hayner rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Yeah. Downhill. And that's just because you're skinnier. It's physics--"

"Or talent"

"Whatever. But on jumps and flags? No competition. End of story." Kairi could tell he was very passionate when it came to competition. Olette seemed to know this too, because she played it cool and calm.

Then Olette frowned, "But you end up hurting yourself when you do that." Hayner shrugged his shoulders and then directed his attention to her.

"What about you, carrot top? Are you fast?" Hayner asked, smirking as he squatted down to their eye level. Kairi frowned deeply at this.

"Faster than you." she said as smoothly and casual as possible. Now, Kairi would have thought of a better comeback had she not been too tired. Or at least that's what she told herself, anyway. Hayner raised his eyebrows at this and then smiled as he leaned further on his heels, still squatting, as if to get a better look at Kairi.

"I love a challenge. Or…lack there of."

"Whatever. You're on." Kairi noticed Olette roll her eyes playfully. Pence came up behind Hayner eating what looked like a taco. Where he got a taco, exactly, stumped Kairi completely.

"You're…Pence, right?" Kairi asked nicely, smiling up at the boy. He nodded hesitantly.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we've have a ski class before together. I remember you're face." It took a second for Pence to think this over, taco in hand. His facial expression held an epiphany-like quality when he realized what she was talking about.

"Oh, yeah! Kairi. I knew that I knew you from somewhere. I couldn't figure it out, though. You had short hair then. I knew you weren't from here." Pence said smiling. Kairi smiled back, realizing that he must be a local or something. Interesting. This is turning out better than she had originally planned. Locals equals connections.

"Oh. These are my friends Rikku and Yuffie. We've been coming here together for years." Kairi added, nodded toward her friends' direction. They only nodded tiredly.

"I need a nap…" Rikku muttered.

"We can go back to my place and chill for a while." Kairi offered decidedly. Rikku and Yuffie nodded their heads enthusiastically at this idea. It was a known fact that Kairi had the nicest TV on the mountain. Her father really liked technology. So she used this to her advantage. And despite her questionable first impressions, Kairi's mother was an amazing cook. All this was just one big equation for a perfect chill house.

"Okay, break it up everyone. Stretch when you get home. Get limber. And we'll meet again tomorrow at the same time. And be ready." Tifa called the the large group of tired teenagers. They all looked in her direction and then sighed warily. Hayner was the first to speak.

"Well, we'll catch up with you guys tomorrow. See ya'" he said as he motioned for Olette and Pence to follow him toward the town center. Kairi looked toward her two friends and asked if they were ready to go. On response, they all stood up and made their way toward the lift that led them to her house. But just as they put on their skis and started to waddle away, Kairi heard a voice that made them all halt.

"Hey, Kairi, wait up!"

Her heart just seriously skipped a beat.

Her cheeks flushed and a new smile gracing her face, Kairi turned toward Reno as her friends waddled away just out of earshot to wait for her. Kairi glanced at Tifa for a moment and noticed that, as she was talking to an over-eager parent, she looked their way aswell, as though curious. But then Reno blocked her view and she was perfectly okay with this.

"I haven't gotten a chance to talk to you today. Sorry about that; counselor rules. No favoring students." He smiled at his own comment, and Kairi literally felt her head go slightly fuzzy as if it were an unfocused TV. He wanted to talk to her? He wanted to favor her? This day had seriously improved.

"No it's cool. I won't tell anyone. Scout's honor." she flirted back. She would have taken an inconspicuously flirty step toward him but there were long wooden sticks attached to her feet at the moment.

He laughed, "So how is everything? Highschool suck?"

"Yeah, it kind of does. I'd rather be here."

"That's how I felt exactly." They had something monumental in common?! Oh-em-gee!

Kairi glanced behind him, "So is Tifa a college friend or something?" Kairi noticed the immediate change in his face. His smile slightly dropped, his eyes unfocused as if he were contemplating whether or not to decide on something.

"Oh, yeah. She's actually my girlfriend."

And just like that, Kairi's day started to suck again.

"Oh," she was able to gasp out in a hopefully incognito surprised voice, "that's-- that's great. For how long." Kairi was pretty sure she felt a fragment of her heart tangle its way into her intestines.

"About a month." he said, nodding slowly and several more times that necessary. An awkward pause started the second his last nod ended.

"So, yeah, I've got to head home. Rikku starts to talk delirously when she's hungry, so I better get to that." Escape was probably the best option at this point.

"Oh, right. Bye."

"Ok, thank you." Kairi paused for a moment. Thank you? How was that even applicable? Reno looked at her with an indescribable face. Probably debating whether she was mentally competent.

"You're welcome." he said only a second after. They both looked at each other with an odd expression, signaling the awkwardness level to Red Alert. For a moment she thought he was going to say something else, but then she had the thought that maybe he was thinking the same thing. Her face was seriously burning right now.

"Right. Bye." Kairi said, shifting her weight awkwardly so that she could move. But he misread this as some sort of approach, and then reached forward to give her about the most awkward hug in the world. Especially since once his arms lightly went around her poofy coat, Kairi responded with great vicarity and acted as if this was actually what she meant to do all along. She gave him an odd tight squeeze and then quickly released. He looked equally as uncomfortable as she did. Kairi decided it was time to make the initiative of escape. So once he saw he move, he turned around as well and walked back toward Tifa. His girlfriend.

"What the hell was that?" Rikku asked looking over Kairi's shoulder. But she couldn't respond.

"Yeah, that looked…um…awkward." Yuffie added as they took their position in front of the lift and waited until it came up behind them and lifted them up on the seat.

"Awkward doesn't describe it. More like painful." Kairi said, gazing unfocusedly as she tried to wrap her head around the full awkwardness of the situation. Fuck. She was so pathetic.

"Painfully awkward." Rikku mused. She then laughed lightly, "well, what did he say?"

-

The rest of the ride and beginning of the walk up to Kairi's house consisted of an intense disection of Reno's words, tone, and facial expressions throughout the conversation. But once they made it all the way through, there was only one logical conclusion: it was perhaps the most awkward conversation ever recorded.

Kairi felt like an absolute idiot. Not to mention Sora and his friend Roxas were just up ahead walking in the same direction. Kairi tried really hard to walk slowly and make Yuffie and Rikku follow suit so that they were not in earshot, but it really was a challenge; Rikku and Yuffie were two of the fastest walkers in the world. And this new-found gossip was only fueling it. Her luck sometimes astounded her.

"Wow." was all Yuffie could say, "What are you going to do when you see him again tomorrow?" Kairi whimpered at this.

"I havent even though of that yet." Unfortunately, they were gaining ground on Sora and Roxas. Crap. Crap. Crap.

"I can't believe that he has a girlfriend, Kairi. Especially when he was flirting so heavily with you. You think he's going to go after you again like a few years ago?" Yuffie pondered aimlessly. Fuck. Crap. Fuck-ity-crap. This was right about the time that Yuffie needed to shut up. This was the exact conversation that she did not need Sora to hear. And judging by the distance between their two groups, he probably did.

"Yeah. I bet he will. Hopefully it won't be so sloppy this time." Rikku said. Oh my god. This was not happening. But then again, her pattern of luck should have indicated that something like this would have happened eventually.

"Oh, look! My row. Great. Let's move." Kairi cried a little on the desperate side. She pulled them with her arms and jetted forward. But then noticed something. Roxas and Sora also turned. Yuffie cocked her head at this.

"Hey," she called, trying to signal them. They turned toward them. Kairi felt Sora's glance on her for only a second. She made sure not to meet it, "Do you guys live here, too?"

"Yeah, our house it right there." Sora responded and then turned to point at a house just a few down. It was large, wooden, and designed to look chic yet cabin-esque. Whatever that meant. All the houses around here were designed to look like this. It attracted tourists, apparently. But then again Sora lived there, so Kairi was sure it was some sort of incognito dump of a house. Even though Kairi knew this was not true and also borderline mean, it was still sort of satisfying to fantasize about. So Kairi decided to ignore the fact that it was nice looking, spacious, large, and -- the house right next to Kairi's.

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dun-dun-dun. REVIEW. i always write back.
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