Sora

Women's.

Men's.

Boy's.

Girl's and Girl's Basics.

Infants.

Boy's Basics.

Men's Basics.

Women's Basics.

Jeez, this job is boring~…

I was already clocked-in for the past hour and I was still stuck sorting through this mess of pallets all by myself. It was ridiculous. I'd started this job a couple weeks ago; I hardly knew what I was doing. And you would think for job retention purposes, they'd want to make sure new employees have all the help they need. But nope. All they gave me was one night of training with someone who worked a completely different section. So they knew about as much as I did about running apparel.

That wasn't even the worst of it either. I could deal with having to teach myself how to do something. Between school, life skills, and hobbies, I'd done it plenty of that growing up. Plus, as far as I was concerned, if I messed up, that was the fault of my managers for not appropriately educating me when I started.

What was harder to deal with though was how physically taxing this job was.

I still hadn't adjusted to this new sleep schedule. So I was constantly exhausted, and my whole body ached from all this added exercise. Which, of course, made it harder to sleep and harder for my muscles to heal after being overexerted all night.

On the bright side, at least I could listen to my own music while I worked. I could only wear one earbud though. And I had to take it out whenever customers approached me, but that was better than nothing. Especially since the store radio only plays the same terrible songs on repeat. Every. Single. Night.

Plus, working at least gave me an excuse to get out of my parents' house for most of the day. Or… night.

Still, the cons heavily outweighed the pros.

The pay here wasn't great. Barely over 824 munny an hour. Thankfully, being that I was just barely an adult, I only had two bills to pay, so I didn't have to worry about my pay too much. As long as I covered my rent payments to my parents and my phone bill, I was in the clear. All I had to focus on was feeding myself. I couldn't imagine how everyone else here got by on that low pay though.

On top of that, I never really wanted to work in retail. Granted, I don't think anyone wants to work in retail. But Moog-mart would probably be at the bottom of anyone's list.

The only reason I even let my parents talk me into applying here was because my older brother, Leon, worked here.

I guess I figured, since this was my first real job, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have someone familiar around for me to rely on. Besides, after my parents found out about my other brother, Vanitas, purposefully failing his Moog-mart interview a couple years ago, there was no way I'd be able to get away with doing the same thing…

None of that changed how mind-numbing this job is though. Or the fact that they'd been working me full-time hours on a job I'd been told was part-time. What a load that was…

Not to mention, aside from Christmas Eve, I didn't get any holidays off working here. Because despite constantly spouting nonsense about the importance of family, or how much they cared about their employees, Moog-mart insisted on remaining open to "serve customers' needs".

Yeah right…

They didn't care about a single one of their employees, or the needs of their customers for that matter. The only thing they cared about was lining their pockets with munny.

Besides, if they did care about their employees like they claimed, I wouldn't be stuck working apparel by myself. If they cared, they would've given me at least one other person to help me sort through all this nonsense.

Still, I guess it was bearable for now. And granted, this is a lot of pissing and moaning on my part because I'm annoyed, but… I couldn't help it. Even if it was just to myself, I had to rant. Because the reality is… this whole situation fucking sucks.

The only reason I was even working here was because of my parents. Because despite giving all my other siblings the option to take a year off after graduating, when it came to me, my only options were to work. Either I could give them free labor by babysitting my two little sisters all day while my parents went to work, or I could go work an actual job that would pay me.

And I knew why.

I wasn't stupid. I knew why those were the options they gave me. Because I was already trapped in the first option since I was fourteen.

Back then, my mother started working part-time as a school bus driver. She'd always been a stay-at-home mom up until then, homeschooling me and my siblings.

My whole life, I remembered all the financial struggles my family had gone through. But it wasn't until then that my mother decided to actually get a job. And frankly, it wasn't even because they needed the munny at that point. In fact, by the time she got a job, my father had already gotten a great promotion at his job. They'd become well off enough that they'd even started looking into buying their own home.

No, my mother only got the job because she wanted extra munny for frivolous spending.

So, she started driving buses.

It was the only job she could find that would allow her to drag her kids along. And for the first two years she forced me to come along too. She claimed it was because she didn't trust me being home alone, but it was clear that she was trying to control my life more than she already had been. And the vast majority of the time we were there, I was still stuck with the task of caring for my sisters.

When I turned sixteen, she finally started leaving the three of us at home so she could take on more hours. But that just meant the job of "parent" was now my problem. Because suddenly, it was my responsibility to wake them up at seven every morning. To feed them breakfast and get them started on whatever schoolwork they had for the day. And if I didn't do absolutely everything exactly as my mother wanted it, then I'd get yelled at for it. Then she'd start threatening to make me ride the bus with her again.

My mother would come home briefly in the middle of the morning. Anywhere between nine and eleven. Then she'd leave again around two.

I would get a small break when she was home, as she'd finish schooling my sisters and feed them lunch. But the moment she left, I would have to play the role of parent again until the evening. I would even have to cook dinner for the whole family many nights because neither parent would be home in time to do so.

Hell, for the past three years, I even had to cook all my own birthday dinners…

I remember when I got upset about it the first time. My parents brushed it off with my mother citing how she's had to do that for herself every year too.

So, why should she care? It was just another day of the week for her…

I spent so much time with my sisters though that even the youngest, Namine, started running to me whenever she would get hurt or upset about something. It didn't matter if our mother was there. I was the parent in her eyes. The one who took the most care of her and kissed all her boo-boos. And even though she'd done it to herself, my mother still had the audacity to seem resentful towards me for it.

Four years of my life had been taken away from me. Four years where I didn't get to be a teenager…

So, of course I chose the second option. It was my only escape. The only little slice of freedom I ever had.

And as much as I hated being here… as much as I knew that this was all so my mother could quit her job, and they could take half my wages for rent... I cherished this freedom…

Every day, I craved more and more…

Of course, part of me missed it as well. Lazing around, watching cartoons with my sisters, staying up late playing video games. Hell, I missed being there when Vanitas got home from his job so we could take a walk after dinner to talk about anything and everything. Even if we'd already had the same conversations a hundred times before, I would happily have it again. And more than that, I missed all the long conversations through text and call with my best friend, Xion.

I didn't miss being a parent. But I missed all the things that weren't part of being a parent. The things that made me feel like I was still just a kid…

Then… of course, there was Kairi…

Kairi is amazing.

She's the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen, with bright blue eyes and dark red hair.

She'd been through absolute hell in life, but somehow she always managed to continue picking herself up off the ground and muscle her way forward.

All my own hardships paled in comparison to what she'd been through.

At thirteen she was basically disowned by her family and kicked out of their house. She spent two years being homeless before her grandmother offered to let her move in with her.

We'd met through an online multiplayer game a few years ago, where we quickly started falling for each other. Despite my family being against the relationship, and constantly trying to sabotage it, we'd been together for four amazing years.

Kairi had gotten me through so many of my darkest moments. And we'd been planning for years to finally meet once we were old enough. I genuinely believed that I was in love with her. That we'd be together forever, and it would always be us against the world.

But… obviously that's not how life works…

Three months ago we got into our first serious fight, and it all came crashing down…

It was a stupid fight too.

I'd only asked her to stop getting into trouble with her friends after she got into a fight with a cop. But she claimed she was just being loyal to her friends by trying to keep their records clean. Before I knew it, we were having a huge argument and in the heat of the moment, we broke up.

After we calmed down, we both apologized for what happened, but things didn't return to the way they were.

They decided to remain friends for now and see where things went. Despite all of that though, Kairi still didn't seem to be handling things very well. Even though she said things were fine between us, that one argument had completely altered the dynamic of our relationship. And now I was constantly being made to feel like I was the only one at fault for what happened.

At this point, I couldn't tell if she was purposefully trying to make me feel like that, or if I was simply interpreting it that way because I felt guilty.

Of course, a small part of me knew that this feeling, regardless of whether or not she was intentionally trying to hurt me, was enough of a reason to walk away. I knew this wasn't healthy, and that if it were Xion having this problem, I'd be the first person telling her to stop doing this to herself.

I couldn't help it though…

Despite it all, I still had feelings for Kairi. And every time we spoke, I was only reminded more and more of why I felt so strongly towards her. Because when things were good, they were good.

And obviously I still hoped she felt the same. Sometimes I even felt like I could see it. But at the same time… it was hard to tell if I was making it all up…

After all, Kairi liked to act emotionless so she couldn't get hurt.

I could relate to that in a way. A lot of my own childhood felt like random pieces of scattered memories. Growing up, I'd blocked out so much to protect myself from the pain. But doing so meant all I had left now was… nothing. I know better now. I'd much rather deal with my problems and grow stronger for it than lose complete years of my life to the pain of my trauma.

For someone like Kairi, I'd think she'd want to do the same…

Regardless of all that though, I still wanted to fix it. Regardless of my better judgement, and the little voice in the back of my head screaming at me to let it go; that it's a lost cause and she's toying with me because she's still mad… Regardless of everything... I wanted to try…

I wanted to feel… forgiven…

I slowly trailed after Leon and his friend Tidus as they led the way to the break room. They were chatting away about the video games they'd been playing recently, and the upcoming titles they wanted to check out. I wasn't listening though. I was more focused on my phone for the time being. I hadn't noticed before, but I'd received a message while I was working, so I was taking the time to check it now.

An email titled simply as, "Blah" sat in my inbox, patiently waiting for me to read it.

It felt like my phone took an eternity to load it; probably because it also had to load all our previous messages along with it. But, eventually, it opened.

Kairi: So, apparently my cousin's younger brother has a crush on me.

My brow raised slightly as I read the message. This wasn't exactly new territory for me.

Well, the cousin part was new, of course. Still, Kairi always had a tendency to inform me whenever she found out someone had a crush on her or tried to hit on her. Seriously, I'd heard it plenty over the years; I was quite used to it by now. And ultimately I understood why so many people felt attracted to her. So, it never really bothered me when she'd tell me.

That didn't stop the little twinge of jealousy I felt in my stomach though…

After all, these people get to see Kairi and be around her. They actually get to be a part of her life. Meanwhile, all I got to have was the occasional back and forth through email.

Still, I had to remind myself that I couldn't be jealous about these things anymore. We weren't together; we're just friends. I shouldn't be jealous…

Sora: I'm not surprised.

As I tucked my phone back into my pocket, I noticed a tall man with long, silver hair walking towards us. The moment I did, we locked eyes, holding each other's gaze for a few seconds.

I was the first to break eye contact though as I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket.

I quickly pulled it out to check the new message, ignoring him as he passed us. But for some reason, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as he did.

Kairi: What do you guys see in me? I don't get it.

Sora: Jeez Kairi, I've already told you a million times what I see in you. You're just too stubborn to see it because for years your family beat it into your head that you're a terrible person, when in actuality, you're absolutely amazing!

By the time I finished typing up that response, we'd finally made our way into the break room and took a seat at the table closest to the TV. Leon and Tidus were still idly chatting as they ate their small snacks.

I hadn't been feeling too hungry, so I only grabbed a water bottle for the time being. I'd eat once our lunch break rolled around, but now, I only had fifteen minutes to relax before I'd be forced to get back to work.

Kairi: But I'm not. I think you're just in denial.

I held back a frustrated sigh, not wanting to draw attention to myself.

Despite how much I wanted to talk to Kairi, I wasn't in the mood to do this with her. I'd only gotten a couple hours of sleep today, my body ached all over, and I'd already made myself upset thinking about my home life for the past hour. So, I really, really, did not have the energy for this discussion. Especially since it was a conversation we'd already had countless times before.

Sora: I can't talk about this with you right now, I have to work.

Kairi: Are you mad now?

Of course I was, but I wasn't about to admit that to her.

I closed out of the app, double checking to make sure I'd completely closed it so it wouldn't suck up my battery life. I tucked it back in my pocket after that, turning my attention towards the TV instead. Hopefully, the late-night talk shows would distract me from the thoughts that wouldn't stop eating away at me today.

I was pretty sure that break had been more like a half-hour rather than fifteen minutes. But now I was trudging my way back to the fitting rooms so I could continue sorting through the unending pallets of clothing I'd been left with.

Consciously, I knew I was being too optimistic in hoping that I'd be able to finish sorting everything before my break. Still, it didn't make the reality any less frustrating.

Still, at least the store cleared out for the most part after midnight. I wouldn't have to worry too much about customers distracting me for the rest of the night.

As I approached the fitting rooms, I passed by the men's underwear section, as I usually did. Only tonight I noticed someone standing there, presumably shopping. I took a quick glance, just to make a mental note of them as people often hid in that section to steal things. However, I quickly realized that it was the exact same man I'd passed earlier.

It wasn't unusual for customers to still be roaming around after my first break of course. In fact, I often passed the same customer at least three times in the span of a night, so that didn't really bother me. It was bound to happen no matter what.

But…

What did bother me was that as I passed him again, he just… stared at me…

It was unnerving to say the least, though I tried to ignore it as I hurried by and got back to sorting clothes.

Once I was out of sight, I took a deep breath and tried to remind myself to relax. After all, odd people came in all the time. It was nothing to worry about.

After taking a moment to reassure myself, I turned my music on and got to work. I easily fell back into the rhythm of things as I sorted all the clothes into their assigned buggies.

Still, it didn't take long for me to start feeling on edge again; that creeping sensation of being watched inching its way up my neck. And sure, technically, I was always being watched. After all, there were cameras all over the store, so the only time I wasn't being watched was, hopefully, whenever I went to the bathroom.

Yet… I swore I could feel someone's eyes on me…

No matter how much I tried to ignore it or tell myself that I was just imagining it and being paranoid. I couldn't shake that feeling...

So, with a sigh, I place the shirts I was holding into one of the baskets, then allowed myself a second to take a look around. Just for my own peace of mind…

At first glance, I didn't notice anyone else. All the people I saw nearest to where I was were up by the registers, either checking out or doing their job.

However, as I turned to look at the men's department again, there he was. Standing behind one of the many racks of clothes with his head tilted slightly to the side.

My heart jumped into my throat the moment we locked eyes.

For a moment, all I could do was stand there and stare back at him; the sound of my heart pounding in my ears as I felt a tingling sensation in my fingers. The man's expression slowly shifted at that point. He frowned, and his brows pinched together in a quizzical manner. I couldn't handle looking at him for much longer though, so I turned my attention back to what I was doing.

It's okay… He'll leave soon. Besides, if anything happens, Leon's nearby. He won't let anything happen to you…. I thought in hopes of consoling myself as I placed the shirts I was holding in one of the baskets. At this point, I wasn't even sure if it was the right basket, but it didn't quite matter for the time being.

I took another breath in an attempt to steady myself before moving back to the pallet I was working on. I sliced open the next box of clothes, only to find it filled with jeans.

God, I hated the jeans…

And to make it worse, they were men's jeans. Which, of course, meant that the cart for them was sitting in the men's section right now. Where he was standing…

My jaw tightened as I piled the jeans into my arms and turned to place them as fast as I could into the appropriate buggy. I tried my best not to look into the section as I did, but… I couldn't help myself. I had to know if he was still looking at me…

So, as I leaned over the buggy, I tried to casually glance around the section without being too obvious. But, just like that, he was gone…

I straightened, and gave another scrutinizing look at my surroundings, trying my best to locate even a hint of silver around all the racks of clothes. Still, there was nothing…

I let out a small sigh, feeling relief wash over me. Knowing that he was gone now, I could finally allow myself to relax and return to my work in peace.

I yawned as I stretched my arms over my head, hoping it might relieve some of the tension that built up in my back all night. It didn't though. If anything, it only made my back hurt even more.

Thankfully, it was seven now. My job was done for the day. So, I happily made my way outside, where my father was waiting to pick me up. I passed a few co-workers on the way, who I exchanged pleasantries with before stopping to say bye to Leon. He was stubbornly sticking around to finish working on the pet's section, even though he knew he didn't have to. If it weren't for the fact that our father was waiting for me, I might've stayed to help him. Our dad would be pissed if I kept him waiting though, so there wasn't much I could do.

My father was sat right out-front waiting patiently in his care. Through the window, I could see him scrolling on his phone to pass the time. I smiled, almost on reflex, and started making my way over to join him.

But that's when I noticed…

Off to the side of the building, where most of my co-workers stood whenever they came out for a smoke break, was the same man from earlier…

He was leaning against the wall, watching as people came and went. The wind was blowing his long hair all over the place, but… as I looked at him, he glanced up. And those aquamarine eyes met with mine once more...

I stumbled to a halt at that point, staring back at him with wide eyes.

I hadn't seen him since after my first break. I just assumed he'd left at that point. So… what the hell was he still doing here? Had he stood out here the whole night? It was freezing though… There's no way he could've stayed out here for that long…

As we stared at each other, he gave me the same confused expression he'd given me earlier. And I swore I could feel the pounding of my heart all the way up to the top of my head.

I would've stayed there all day if it hadn't been for the sound of a horn blaring and snapping me back to reality. I quickly turned to look at my father, who was now gesturing for me to get in the car.

I spared one more glance in the man's direction, my stomach swirling anxiously, then I rushed across the street and hopped into the passenger's seat.

"You okay there?" my father asked as soon as the door slammed shut.

"Yeah… I'm alright…" I mumbled as I buckled myself in.

My father nodded, and as he began to pull away from the curb, I looked at the entrance once more. But, once again, the man had disappeared…

"How was work?" my father asked.

"Same as always…" I mumbled as I sank down into the seat.

It had been a week.

A week since I'd first seen that guy. And he'd come back every night since. Just standing in the clothing department and watching me work.

Okay, maybe that was a slight exaggeration.

He didn't only watch me work. He would still wander around a bit. And every once in a while, I would catch him looking at some of the clothes. But, for the most part, he was definitely watching me.

And it was only ever the first two hours of work. Once I'd return from my first break, he'd vanish, only to reappear in the morning, standing in the same damn spot as he watched me leave.

At first, I tried to tell myself that it didn't matter. It was only at work after all. And who knows, maybe the guy just had a crush and was trying to work up the nerve to talk to me? If that were the case, I figured he'd get bored soon or decide it was a lost cause as he'd clearly been creeping me out. So, I tried to ignore it for a bit.

After the first few nights though, I couldn't ignore it anymore. I needed to tell someone. Maybe get some advice? I'd never been in a situation like this before, so I didn't exactly know what I to do.

So, I told Kairi.

I just sent her a quick message, telling her how I thought someone might be stalking me at work. But her only response was "good luck"…

I hadn't spoken to her since.

Seriously, what kind of response was that?

"Good luck loser! Now I'm off to ignore your existence for another week!"

What bullshit…

And yet… I knew the moment she messaged me; I'd continue to talk to her like nothing happened…

Jeez, I'm so pathetic…

Still, that wasn't even the worst problem on my plate right now. Because I clearly had a real deal stalker on my hands, and I was starting to lose it. Hell, I had half a mind to call the cops on this guy.

But, of course, I couldn't be bothered to do something like that.

Or anything even remotely more intelligent.

No, I was going to make probably one of the stupidest decisions of my life and instead… I was going to confront the guy…

I knew it was dumb. I knew it was a bad idea, and that I shouldn't approach this man. But… I didn't want to assume the worst about the guy either. I mean, what if I was wrong and this was all some kind of misunderstanding? I'd feel terrible. At the very least, I felt like I should give him the benefit of the doubt.

So, as I finished sorting the clothes for the night, I grabbed one of the baskets full of men's clothing. I pushed it over to the section, near where he was standing, and left it sitting between two racks before turning around and marching over to the man.

He wasn't paying attention to me at first. Instead, he was staring at some of the shirts with this bored look on his face. After a moment though, he seemed to notice the sound of approaching footsteps and turned to meet my eye.

My nerve wavered slightly as a wave of fear coursed through my veins, but I pushed it down and tried to remain determined.

He didn't even react as he watched me approach him though. He just stood there, straight faced and as still as a statue. Once I was standing in front of him, he raised a brow in question as his head fell to the side.

"Why… Why are you watching me?" I asked, desperately trying to sound stern.

Up close, he appeared to be much younger than I'd originally perceived. In fact, he seemed fairly close to my own age.

He didn't answer my question though. Instead, his brows furrowed as he said, "So, you can see me."

What…?

"Of course I can! You're standing in plain sight!"

"You never did before…" he muttered, though it seemed like he was saying it more to himself.

Still, that response threw me for a loop.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean, 'before'?" I questioned.

Had he been watching me longer than I thought? What that even possible? I mean, I hadn't ever seen him until now…

He didn't bother to answer me though. In fact, he wasn't even looking at me anymore. Instead, his eyes were focused on something behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see what he was looking at, but there was nothing there.

Well, nothing but clothes at least…

"Sorry. I need to go. I'll see you later, Sora," he stated, turning to walk away.

"Hey, wait! You didn't answer my question!" I reached out to grab his arm, though I stopped myself last second. It would be incredibly inappropriate for me to touch him like that...

I frowned, feeling frustrated now. Still, I had to at least ask one more question…

"How do you know my name?"

To my surprise, the man paused, then turned to look at me again with a small, amused smile. "It's on your shirt."

I blinked in surprise, then glanced down. Sure enough, there it was, in big red letters.

"SORA"

I'd completely forgotten about my name tag. Especially since I wore it down on the hem of my shirt so people wouldn't notice it as much. For some reason though, I didn't like that answer.

When I looked back up, the man was actually still standing there.

He chuckled, his smile widening in his amusement. And I hated myself for thinking about how nice his smile was in that moment.

Before I could say anything else though, I heart a sharp whistle come from behind me. I jumped at the sound, and when I turned, I found Leon and Tidus walking towards me.

"It's break time," Leon said.

I nodded slowly and moved to follow my brother. Before I left though, I took one last glance behind me.

I already knew he was gone of course. I didn't have to look to know.

But… I still wanted to.

Hey, hi, hello.

For anyone who remembers me in my cringy teenage years, you will see I am now back on my bullshit. Hope you've all been doing well.

As for everyone else, hello. Welcome to my shitshow.

It's been a long time since I've written any fanfiction, let alone posted, so I might be a little rusty, bear with me...

Also, I know first person POV fics are out of the ordinary, but I no longer write in third person. I tried while I was rewriting this and I hated it, so I'm sticking with first person. I promise, the tone I write in is the same regardless, I'm just more comfortable with first person, I feel like my writing is better this way.

Anyways, this is an old fic, as you can see from the published date, that I've chosen to rewrite because I never finished it and I recently reignited my love for the ship. I thought it would be cute to post the first chapter on Soriku day as well, so I hope you all enjoy. I've also got a couple more chapters ready to post, so those should be going up over the next few days here.

Hope you all have a great day 3