Disclaimers: I don't own anything but the game merchandise and this story. OTL The challenge, however, belongs to HawkRider.

A/N: Hello again! An update that's not on the weekend; yay! :P This theme was a little hard to incorporate, but it's there. xD; I'd say this is the chapter that starts spiralling as to why a relationship (for Kairi anyways) is going to be impossible. Oh, and I'll just put it out there: I'm just 'borrowing' last names because I'm not very creative. I won't use them much, but I thought I'd mention it in case some of them are familiar. And yes, they will more likely than not reference a few Final Fantasy characters because I'm like that. xD

Once again, thanks so much for reading and reviewing! :) Please enjoy and R&R!


.: oo3 | Unlikely | oo3 :.
~ Innocent Swan ~


By the time I got to school the next day, I was still riding on euphoria that even Naminé noticed I was out of my equilibrium. Unfortunately, I didn't have a class with her until after lunch, so I had to do my best to lock up my giddiness for three hours. Strangely enough, that was really easy to do that when you had the first three periods of the day with a guy friend.

"Hey, Kairi." Looking up from my notes, I saw a spiky-haired brunet giving me a pleading look from the desk diagonally across from mine. He clapped his hands together and whispered so our teacher couldn't hear him. "Can I borrow a pencil?"

I couldn't help but smile teasingly at him as I dug through my denim-patterned pencil case for an extra writing utensil. Pulling one out, I handed it to the brunet and he gratefully took it with a boyish grin. I giggled under my breath. "Return it to me when you're done, Sora."

The brunet, Sora, nodded sheepishly before turning around to face the board. "I will. Thanks, Kairi!"

Another giggle escaped me and I tried to focus on what the teacher was talking about again. I was listening…and then I drifted off in thought. The teacher's voice was muffled in the background as I tapped my pen against my notebook and sighed; eyes glancing out the window and waiting for something interesting to happen.

To be honest, I didn't want to be at school; I wanted to look for Terra. Our little reunion yesterday didn't give me a chance to ask for Terra's phone number…which sucked considerably. Maybe it would've been easier to ask Aqua's boss for Terra's whereabouts, but wouldn't that be creepy and insanely stalker-like? Not to mention Aqua would more than likely disapprove my actions since she was never on good terms with Terra.

Why? Well…I honestly don't know.

When Terra moved into the house next to ours ten years ago, it was literally 'hate at first sight'. Either, I was never there when they decided to abhor each other or Terra and Aqua just never got along, period. But anyways, bottom line was: it was unlikely of me to get to Terra unless I had Aqua's consent. That was going to be hard to obtain if she found out that I saw Terra as boyfriend material…

"…Miss Raines?"

Hmm, I wonder what I could do so Terra and Aqua could get along—

SLAM!

Startled out of my thoughts, I immediately jumped to my feet and looked around the classroom in a panic. Every one of my classmates stared at me, some holding in fits of laughter while others sneered at me incredulously. Sora eyed me with a nervous scratch of his head and when it finally processed that I was interrupting the lesson, my eyes cautiously looked forward before landing on the teacher… He wasn't looking very happy with his palm flat against his desk.

Out of awkwardness, I smiled. "Umm…"

As expected, my hard-nosed history teacher refused to show me sympathy and replied in a no-nonsense tone. "I was hoping you could answer a question, but it seems you're too preoccupied with the clouds."

"S…Sorry."

He snorted, turning around to face the board. "Do not let that happen again… And I would appreciate it if you didn't sigh so loudly in class."

…Never again would I space out during class, otherwise I would turn beet red for all to see.

¨·..·¨·..·¨·..·¨·..·¨·..·¨·..·¨·..·¨·..·¨

Ugh, boys were so immature!

Not taking the laughter anymore, I grabbed my empty juice box and threw it towards the silver-haired jerk practically laughing his butt off on the bench. "Shut up, Riku!"

It came as no surprise that Riku was able to dodge my garbage throw. He snickered a little more – grinning at me all the while – before shaking his head and rubbing the side of his neck. Putting his hands in his pockets, Riku leaned back and teased. "C'mon, Kairi. I was expecting Sora to space out during class; not you."

"Hey!" Sora and I cried out defiantly; Riku shrugging dismissively as if he proved a point.

Huffing, I crossed my arms and looked away; my head held high. I did nothing wrong during class… I was just engrossed with some serious thinking! "It was an honest mistake on my part, but it was so uncalled for that I had to be made example of in front of the entire class."

Riku made to speak, but Sora surprisingly cut him off. "But it's weird." He frowned at me and it honestly reminded me of a puppy begging for treats. Oooh…Sora was so cute! And for your information, yes I'm allowed to say that because I've been friends with these guys since elementary school. "Kairi, is something bothering you? To be honest, you haven't been acting like yourself all morning."

To this, our silver-haired friend raised an eyebrow when he realized Sora was being serious. Riku looked at me with aquamarine eyes and I tried not to shrink under his gaze. "What's up, Kairi?"

I'll admit it was nice having guy friends who worried about you like a little sister. Well…that was case in point with Riku. Sora, not so much; the brunet worried about me strictly as a friend. Raising my hands in front of me, I reassured. "Guys, I'm fine; really, I am."

"Then what were you sighing about during class?" Sora pouted, sitting backwards on his seat. He folded his arms on top of his chair's backboard. "I don't like it when you're troubled, Kairi. I'd rather see you smile."

That was a pretty bold declaration coming from Sora and it took me by surprise. He was a nice guy – always beaming and acting optimistic – but to think he would be that worried about me… Oh great, now I was feeling guilty! Usually, I didn't share my opinions of feelings and whatnot with the guys (because let's face it: guys and girls had different standards when it came to 'feelings'), but maybe just this once…

They were gaping in shock when I let my cheeks flare pink in the slightest and at that moment, I really hated how fair-skinned I was. My hands were folded together on top of my lap and I mumbled. "Well—"

"I'm sorry I'm late!" Naminé interrupted my confession (thankfully) when she burst through the only door accessible to the rooftop of the school. She was out of breath and I assumed she ran from the art wing, which was on the other side of the school building. Her hands were on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. "I wanted to put the finishing touches on my project first."

Neither Riku nor I spoke up, but Sora was strangely observant today. "Were you with Roxas, Naminé?"

Riku choked on the milkshake he was drinking and I stared in bafflement; switching my focus from a curious Sora to a flustering Naminé. "What? Really?"

Naminé vigorously shook her head, but the blush didn't disappear from her cheeks. "W-Why would you say that?"

Sora innocently pointed to the checkered wristband wrapped around Naminé's right wrist. "I'm pretty sure that belongs to Roxas."

"…Oh yeah." I placed a hand under my chin and slyly grinned. "That does belong to Roxas…"

"I'm just borrowing it!" Naminé attempted to cover the band with her left hand. "There's a big paint stain on my wrist that wouldn't come off, so…"

"Naminé, it doesn't really matter what you say anymore. You're trying to hide it; that's proof enough." I laughed, much to my blonde cousin's chagrin. She tried to pinch me, but I slapped her away playfully.

Sora laughed along with me and Riku shook his head with a smile. "So Naminé has a Roxas problem and Kairi…I dunno."

Crap! I forgot to hush up the boys! Looking at Naminé frantically, I knew it was too late; she was already staring at Riku in confusion. "What do you mean?"

The silver-haired teen shrugged, throwing his empty bottle into a nearby recycle bin. "Kairi's been acting weird all morning and Sora and I are trying to figure out why. She was about to tell us before you showed up."

"It's nothing; I'm just tired!" I lied. Oh, but Naminé was savvy; she knew I was hiding something from her. She eyed me intently and I played it casual; twirling a lock of hair between my fingers while avoiding eye contact with her. I could tell Sora and Riku were glancing at each other in perplexity, but I wasn't going to tell them. And neither was Naminé!

…At least, that was what I was hoping for.

"…Oh."

"Naminé, no!"

"So what is it?" Sora perked up, sitting erect in his chair.

The only thing I could do was flabbergast. "Sora!"

Riku commented. "Tell me this is dirty laundry."

Traitors! They were all backstabbers! I knew it was unlikely that they ('they' being the boys) would be mature about this! Throwing my hands up in the air, I turned away from them and pouted, though in reality, I wanted to run away. "Ugh, I don't care anymore."

Naminé hugged me from behind and rested her head on top of mine, giggling. "There, there."

"…I'm especially mad at you."

"It's payback." She hummed patting my shoulders and I rolled my eyes. Naminé continued her explanation while looking over her shoulder and at the boys. "She hasn't told me in detail – yet – but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with this crush of hers."

Sora looked skeptical. "Wait, you like someone?"

Somehow, the way he said that made me feel insulted and I scrunched up my nose. "Are you implying something?"

"How long has she liked this guy?" Riku purposely ignored me when he looked at Naminé for answers. Talk about slap in the face, Riku!

Naminé looked thoughtful with a finger to her chin and answered. "From what we've talked about…it's been ten years—"

"Okay, I'm telling the story now!" I loudly demanded while flailing my arms before Riku or Sora could interject. Sucking in a deep breath, I started. "His name is Terra and he was a boy who lived in the house next to mine when I was little. He moved away to another city, but now he's back. End of story. Can we drop this now please?"

Unfortunately, my pleading went unheard. "You were that serious about him?"

What was with Riku today too? He was never this persistent before! "Yes okay? Come on, I don't want to talk about this anymore."

I glared during the moment of silence Riku offered, but it didn't last long. "…How old is he?"

"About Aqua's age." Naminé answered for me as I waved my hand dismissively.

"Isn't that a five-year difference?" The silver-haired teen frowned with folded arms. "Kairi…"

Frustrated, I stood up and stormed off. "This is why I don't say anything to you guys!"

Sora tried to stop me. "Ah, Kairi—!"

"What?" I never meant to snap at Sora, but I felt hurt; close to tears.

He was taken aback by my expression and it showed on his face. Biting his bottom lip, Sora murmured. "Sorry…"

I didn't bother to reply after that and left the rooftop in a bad mood.