It was the next week, and the snow that had fallen earlier in the week had all melted, making way for new snow that had managed to cancel all classes on Monday-not that it mattered anyway, Kairi didn't have Monday classes, Xigbar had the day off of work, and she was determined to spend the majority of the day with him.
"So you see a store yet that you wanna check out or you gonna make me walk around for hours before deciding?" Xigbar teased.
Kairi stuck her tongue out at him, "You complaining?" she laughed. "I actually did see something I wanted to check out, but it's for Christmas, so you can't come with me. Mind if I dash away for a minute?" she asked.
"Nah, but I have to maintain the appearance of a guy who was dragged shopping by his girlfriend, right?" Xigbar winked. "Go ahead and get what you want, Red. I'll be waiting in here where it's warm." He nodded towards one of the other stores.
"Sounds good." Kairi grinned, leaning up to give him a kiss, "Be right back."
Xigbar grinned, grabbing her hand to pull her back and kissing her again. "You got it, Sass."
Kairi smiled at him, before pulling back and heading down the street towards the store she'd seen.
Xigbar watched her go, shaking his head and heading inside to wait.
The store was less than a block down the street, small and quaint, and Kairi hoped that what she'd seen in the window wasn't as expensive as it looked. Even if it was, she'd just sucker some money out of her ever-absent dad, she supposed.
Her thoughts were cut off by a call of her name from behind her.
She immediately stiffened, the thought of the store and what she wanted to buy Xigbar flying away. No. No, no, no-
"What are you doing out here?" the voice asked, approaching her even as Kairi didn't turn, "I haven't seen you in years and I find you here of all places?"
"What do you want?" Kairi was surprised at how steady her voice sounded-she didn't feel steady at all. She could feel everything she'd built up over the past three years crumbling down with every word he spoke.
"What, I can't catch up with an old friend?"
His voice was still as... as... infuriating as it had always been, and Kairi clenched her hand around her purse, "Fuck off, Kadaj." she said as she turned to face him finally. He had that same smirk on his face, that same cocky smirk as ever.
"And if I don't want to?" he asked, smirk steady.
Kairi pushed him aside and took off down the street, not quite running, but getting away as quickly as she could.
She could hear his footsteps as he followed her, and spoke, "I said fuck off. Get the hell away from me and leave me alone."
"That's no way to talk to your dear old friend." he laughed.
"You are not my friend." she said simply, before opening the door to the store that Xigbar was in and escaping inside, hoping, praying, that he wouldn't cause a scene in a store. She was lucky. As she turned to look over her shoulder, she saw him still outside, not following her. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she glanced around, trying to find Xigbar.
Xigbar glanced at the door when he heard it open and frowned as a panicked Kairi rushed in. Quickly going to her, he grabbed her by the arms, studying her face. "Whoa, what the hell happened?"
Kairi shook her head, knowing she was shaking lightly but trying her hardest not to break in the middle of a store. Glancing back at the door, she found Kadaj gone.
"Red? Kairi. Tell me what happened. Are you okay?" Xigbar demanded.
Kairi slowly nodded, "Yes. No. I..." she hesitated, not sure what to say. She didn't want Xigbar seeing her like this-she didn't want anyone seeing her like this anymore, actually, but definitely not Xigbar.
Noticing the stares they were getting, Xigbar coaxed her out of the store, gently cupping her face to make her look at him. "Scaring me, Sass. Gotta talk to me, okay?"
Kairi leaned into him, knowing she was shaking and knowing she needed to stop but not knowing how.
Xigbar held her and thought frantically. "Okay. We're leaving and I'm taking you home. Okay? Come on, let's get to the car."
Kairi didn't let go of him, and nodded.
"Right. Okay." Xigbar muttered, guiding Kairi to the car. It was a little awkward, but he got her there and managed to coax her inside, dashing around the other side and hopping in, grabbing her hand. "Whatever the hell's wrong, it's gonna be okay, all right? Please say something, Red." Xigbar said as he started the car.
"I'm sorry," Kairi whispered, pulling her knees up to her chest and breaking into sobs.
"Fuck." Xigbar cursed. "Kairi, what the hell happened? Why are you sorry? Please, Red, please stop crying." Xigbar sped faster, blowing through a stop sign as he raced to her house, hoping that Namine was home.
Slamming on the brakes, he threw the car into park in front of her house, dashing around and opening the passenger's side door, crouching down and rubbing Kairi's face with his hand. "Kairi? Please, you're home, okay? Let's go inside at least. Come on now."
Kairi sniffled, but nodded, carefully lowering her feet so she could get out of the car.
"Okay, come on. That's it, you're fine, you're home." Xigbar continue to babble as he led Kairi up to her house and inside, screaming "NAMINE!" as he sat her down in the living room.
The blonde rushed downstairs. "Xigbar? What happened?"
"It's Kairi - I don't know! One minute we were fine and shopping and then she just came back and broke down and - "
"Where is she?" Namine asked, cutting him off.
"Living room." Xigbar said, following her in.
Namine rushed to Kairi's side, hugging her close. "Kairi? What happened?"
The redhead didn't have an answer for her either, leaning into her sister but not bursting into tears again.
Namine frowned, rubbing soothing circles on her sister's back. "The only other time I've seen you so quiet was when... Xigbar, go up to my room and grab my cell phone, will you? It's on my desk."
Xigbar hesitated before nodding and running up the stairs, cursing as he almost walked into the doorframe of the blonde's room, barely registering it as he grabbed the phone and ran back downstairs, handing it to Namine.
Namine quickly dialed a number. "Sora? Are you home? Thank god, I need you to come over right now. It's Kairi. Thanks." She hung up.
"Meet Sora outside and tell him what you know?" She asked Xigbar.
"I..." Xigbar shook his head.
"She'll be fine, I promise." Namine tried to smile.
Xigbar sighed, nodding and heading outside to meet a panicked looking Sora, followed by Riku.
Spotting Xigbar, Sora ran over, "Xigbar? What the hell happened? Where are Kairi and Namine?"
"Inside but Namine told me to talk to you first. Fuck." Xigbar said, rubbing his face.
"What's going on?" Riku asked.
"We were shopping - Kairi and I - and she said she saw something she wanted to get for Christmas and I couldn't go with her, that she'd be right back. I was waiting for her when she burst into the store, basically hyperventilating and shaking and she wouldn't talk to me. I got her to the car and she said she was sorry and just started crying. God, I got here as fast as I could and Namine took one look at her and called you. What the fuck happened?"
Sora had no idea what had happened for almost a full second before everything clicked into place. The timing, the location... "Fuck!" he shouted, not explaining and running past Xigbar into the house.
Riku pushed past Xigbar, following him. Xigbar cursed again, going back in the house and into the living room, where Sora was now on the other side of Kairi and Riku was hovering nearby.
"Kairi? Namine? Sora, Riku, will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?" Xigbar demanded, his patience wearing thin.
Sora didn't answer him, instead forcing Kairi to look at him, "Kairi, did he do anything? I need you to talk to me for just a minute, Kai."
Kairi slowly shook her head, shaking, and feeling tears coming back, and fuck would she ever stop shaking and crying?
Sora dropped his hand, letting her bury herself in her sister's chest and took a deep breath.
Riku cursed, moving to put a hand on Sora's shoulder even as Namine held Kairi closer.
"He? Who?" Xigbar asked. "Someone did something? What the fuck happened?"
Sora glanced at Namine to make sure she was okay so that he could take Xigbar into a different room and explain.
Xigbar clenched his jaw as he followed the brunette, Riku taking his place on the couch, glaring as he waited for an answer as to why his girlfriend was suddenly bawling her eyes out and mute.
Sora took a deep breath, "Fuck, I haven't seen her like that in three years." he said, leaning his head back to look at the ceiling, "Look, Kairi's not as... mentally stable as she makes herself out to be." Gesturing towards the living room, he added, "As you can see."
"I don't care. What happened today? We were apart for ten minutes, maybe." Xigbar said.
"I can't tell you exactly what happened, because I don't know and it doesn't look she's going to tell me, but I'd be willing to guess she ran into her ex." Sora said, "Like I said, I haven't seen her like that in three years-since she broke up with him. He was..." he paused, trying to think of the best way to describe Kadaj and Kairi's relationship and coming up completely blank. "She puts up a strong front, but she was with Kadaj for fouryears, and he slowly broke through every mental defense she had and... like psychologically controlled her, essentially. It took until he went away for school for her to realize it, and that's when she broke up with him. But it took her a long time to rebuild herself, and it looks like seeing him just basically fucked up all of that progress."
Xigbar stared at him. "She ran into her ex and was reduced to this?"
"You said she was only gone for ten minutes, and she said he didn't do anything." Sora said, "Trust me, if he'd done anything to her, this would look like she was in good shape in comparison."
Xigbar's face hardened. "What's he look like and where does he live?"
"No, Xigbar." Sora said, "You are not going to go after him-that'll just make things worse. Kairi didn't push you away, which means she's still recognizing that you're safe, even in the shape she's in. She needs you to stay here until she's calmed down."
Xigbar cursed, long and loud, before nodding. "Fine." He snapped. "But this conversation isn't over." He strode back into the living room, unceremoniously shoving Riku off the couch and gently taking Kairi from Namine's arms. "Kairi?" He murmured, tucking her closer to him on his lap. "Everything will be okay, now."
Riku glared at him from the floor, standing just as Sora walked back in.
Kairi leaned into Xigbar, clutching at him but not crying. Sora looked over at Namine and Riku, "She say anything?"
Namine shook her head, wearily watching Kairi.
"Nothing." Riku muttered, hugging Sora.
Xigbar tipped Kairi's face up to his, forcing a smile. "C'mon, Red. It's not like you to be on my lap and not be using it to your advantage to drive me crazy." Gently, softly, he kissed her, barely lingering over her lips, rubbing her cheek with his thumb as he stared into her eyes.
Sora took Riku's hand and gestured Namine out of the room.
Kairi was there-she knew she was there, she knew Xigbar was kissing her, she knew she was sitting on his lap-but she also wasn't. She had overloaded, the walls in her brain had collapsed and she wanted nothing more at that moment than to turn back time and have never gone shopping in the first place. She buried her head in Xigbar's shoulder so that she didn't have to look in his eyes and feel guilty but not be able to doanything about it any more.
Namine sighed, sitting down at the kitchen table. "It was Kadaj?"
Riku pulled Sora into a chair. "Fuck." He muttered.
"Yeah." Sora sighed, "From what I can tell, it took less than ten minutes for her to be reduced to that."
"He must be on break for the holidays." Namine murmured, closing her eyes briefly.
"What're we going to do?" Riku asked, glancing between the two of them.
"Nam, you're the psych major, so tell me if this sounds right." Sora said, glancing at Namine, "He didn't do anything, so right now she's just stuck with the memories, right?"
"Yes, but those memories were buried away, so the backlash from reliving them... I don't know. Kairi's always been... different." Namine sighed.
Sora nodded mutely, "I'm really hoping that she'll be... well, she won't be fine, but better after some rest. She's recognizing Xigbar, which is a good step, considering that she got to the point where she wasn't recognizing me last time... But it's not like we can keep a constant watch on her until Kadaj goes back to school-none of us expected that this would even happen."
Riku nodded, rubbing Sora's back in a gesture of comfort.
Xigbar walked into the kitchen. "She fell asleep. Call me the minute she wakes up if I'm not back, I'm going to my apartment to grab some things because I'm not leaving her until she's better."
Namine nodded. "All right."
Xigbar glanced at Sora, before turning and leaving.
Sora walked into the living room. Kairi was curled up on the couch, fast asleep (finally, because she definitely needed it). Pulling a spare blanket out of the closet in the room and pulled it over her. "Why is part of me hoping he's planning on killing him?" he asked Riku and Namine.
"Because the bastard deserves it?" Riku suggested, sitting down in a chair with Sora.
Namine sighed. "Xigbar doesn't know him. And even if he somehow finds him, I don't think he'll kill him. He won't risk not being able to be here with her."
Sora just nodded, groaning.
XXXX
Xigbar opened the door to the apartment, slamming it shut behind him. He saw Seifer on the couch but didn't see Leon. "Where's Leon? I need you two to do something for me. Now. Kairi's hurt."
Seifer looked over before shouting down the hall, "LEON! GET OUT HERE NOW."
The brunette walked out, looking only mildly annoyed until he saw Xigbar's face. "What happened?"
"Kairi's a complete mess - crying, won't talk, just absolutely broken. We were out and she ran off on her own for a few minutes and came back hysterical. It was her ex. I'm grabbing my stuff and heading back to her house - she's sleeping now, and her sister and friends are with her - but I need you to track down the asshole and ensure he stays the fuck away." Xigbar explained quickly, going to his room and starting to grab clothes and throw them into a bag, leaving the door open to talk as he did so.
"Okay," Leon answered, following him down the hall, "What do you know, then? Where is he?"
"His name is Kadaj. And that's all I know. Just find him. Sora wouldn't fucking tell me anything else but he knows the bastard. Just get him, all right? I gotta go." Xigbar said, grabbing the bag and turning to face his roommates.
Seifer nodded, now standing, "We'll find him. Keep us posted on Kairi."
Xigbar nodded wearily. "Thanks. Kick his balls in for me." He grinned maliciously before hurrying out the door, intent on getting back to Kairi.
Leon turned to Seifer, "How the hell are we going to find this guy?"
"You act like I know more than you do." Seifer said, "He said that this Sora guy knows him, right?"
"Yeah." Leon nodded, "Sora is Cloud's roommate's boyfriend's older brother, so maybe..."
"Fucking hell, how do you keep track of that?"
Leon gave Seifer a look, "I'll call Cloud and see if I can get in touch with Roxas. Maybe he can find this Kadaj guy's address for us."
"Better plan than I've got." Seifer shrugged.
Leon nodded, and headed back to his room to grab his phone. Dialing Cloud, he hoped that he was home and that this would actually work.
"Hey Leon." Cloud said, answering.
"Hey." Leon said, "This is going to sound really strange, but is there any way you can get me in touch with Roxas?"
"Um. Yeah, he's here with Axel, actually. Why you need to talk to him?" Cloud asked.
"Xigbar's girlfriend, Kairi." Leon answered, "Xig just walked through here asking Seifer and I to go kick the ass of her ex, who has apparently managed to reduce her to hysteria in a matter of minutes. Sora apparently knows Kadaj, so I'm hoping Roxas will be able to find him for me."
"That sounds... incredibly complicated. Hang on." There was some rustling noises, and muffled voices and then Roxas spoke, "Leon? Something happened to Kairi and you need my help?"
"Yeah." Leon nodded, even though Roxas couldn't see him, "Know someone named Kadaj?"
Roxas swore. "Goddammit, that asshole is back? He totally mindfucked Kairi."
"Yeah, and if what Xigbar said was any indication, she's a mess right now. I need his address. Think you can get it for me?" Leon asked. There was no point in hiding what Xigbar had asked Seifer and him to do, and if Kadaj was as much of an asshole as everyone seemed to think he was, he doubted anyone would have any problem with it either.
"I don't know it but I'm pretty sure Sora does-he's freaky overprotective like that when it comes to Kairi - but not to me apparently." Roxas muttered the last part. "Try calling him?"
"Xigbar already said Sora wouldn't tell him anything." Leon frowned.
"Oh. Hmm. Well, he'd have it written down somewhere, and he's probably at Kairi's now... gimme like fifteen minutes and I can call you back with the address. I'll get your number from Cloud. Okay?"
"Sure." Leon said, "Thanks, Roxas."
"No problem. Get him good when you find him, all right? I'll call soon." Roxas hung up.
Leon shut his phone, heading back out to the living room to fill in Seifer.
XXXX
Xigbar sighed, staring at Kairi. She was currently sleeping in her bed. He was sitting in her desk chair, and Sora, Riku, and Namine were downstairs waiting for her to wake up. He shifted a little to try to get comfortable when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Glancing at his girlfriend's sleeping form, he quickly left the room, pacing in the hallway as he answered. "Hello?"
"Hey." It was Leon, "We found him. How's Kairi?"
"Still sleeping. You guys get him yet?" Xigbar asked, gripping his phone tightly.
"We're about to leave to do just that. You want us to pick you up?"
Xigbar frowned, glancing at the bedroom door. "Yeah. I want a piece of the bastard." He rattled off Kairi's address, hanging up and heading downstairs. "I'll be back in a bit. I... forgot something."
Namine sighed. "Please be careful. Don't do anything reckless."
Riku nodded.
"I'll call you if she wakes up." Sora promised.
"Thanks. I'll be back soon." Xigbar said, heading outside. A few minutes later, Leon and Seifer pulled up and he climbed into the backseat. "How'd you find him?"
"Called Cloud, who got me in touch with Roxas, who found the address among Sora's stuff." Leon answered, pulling away from the curb and heading down the street.
Xigbar blinked. "Right. It's kinda weird how people are connected." He shook his head. "Anyway. Basic plan? No killing, because none of us can afford jail time, but a good beating would be nice, along with some threats."
"Sounds good to me." Seifer shrugged.
XXXX
Xigbar forgot his toothbrush. Totally.
Do I really have to clarify who this is? Is Jasmine this sarcastic?
Remember that chapter that I couldn't write ANs for 'cause a certain character was killing me? Hi Kairi, meet everyone. It's her fault. This was the chapter we were writing. It should all make some sense now.
I'm going to go back to stalling and not doing homework and possibly playing Flash Portal. :D
Posting note: Jasmine here. Xigbar kinda killed me in this plotline, too, except not as bad as Kairi killed Cami. :)
You're getting this a day early because I have wayyyy too much to do this weekend and don't want to forget again, so enjoy!