Chapter 12 - Vagrant Dream

Kairi checked the time on her phone; it read 08:31am.
"Oh great, they're late ... again!" She sighed in frustration.
She had been wearing her normal school uniform, all set up neat and tidy as usual, with her school bag resting by her side. It had been a normal school day on a Friday; the students were beginning to head towards the directions of their form-rooms to register. Most of them had been dropped off by coaches, cars, the trains; while others who either lived locally to the area or couldn't get to school by transport preferred the option to walk. Late arrivals were now rushing in so they wouldn’t get the late mark. And so Kairi, on the other hand, had been standing by the entrance of the school waiting for the two slackers for friends: Sora and Riku. Kairi had been waiting for them ever since she arrived to the school half-an-hour ago; Sora had sent a text message to her to wait for the both of them by the entrance the night before, but there hasn't been any sign of the two so far.
Kairi gave out another sigh, "I'll allow them another minute and then give it a rest. I swear, once I see them, I'm going to -"
"KAIRI!" A voice shouted out loudly from very close behind.
Kairi all of a sudden felt as if she jumped out of her skin, even giving out a small squeak, after hearing her name being called out. She swiftly switched round knowing exactly who had called out to her.
"Why did you do that for, Selphie? You almost gave me a heart attack!" She whined, her heart racing.
Kairi was right though; Selphie had snuck up behind her and shouted very close to her ear.
"Hahahah! Sorry, I just couldn’t resist myself!" Selphie apologised, giving out a cheeky smile and giggling. "Why are you waiting here anyway? You'll miss morning registration."
"Sora asked me to wait here for him and Riku. But, they haven’t shown their faces so far. I was just about to head off about now anyway." Kairi explained, the sign of concern showing in her voice.
"Don't go wasting your time for them; it's normally their fault that they turn up late anyway. Just chill and go to registration before you get the late mark." Selphie eased her, smiling as she tilted her head.
"I guess you're right. I'll just tell them when they do turn up that I tried.” Kairi sighed, gazing back once more outside the entrance.” I’ll see you at break then."
"Yep, be seeing ya!" Selphie nodded happily.
After waving bye to each other, they ran their separate ways to their classrooms.
Kairi, who had been thankful to have turned up to registration just in the nick of time, was now sitting in her first lesson of the day: Maths. And yet there still had been no sign of Sora. Both of them were normally in the same class for Maths, Sora’s seat right next to her own. Riku was in the year/grade higher than Sora and Kairi. And so Kairi decided that if Sora wasn't here, Riku wasn't here!
Kairi concentrated on jotting down her work and solving the various maths equations from the textbook beside her on the desk. Every few moments, she would have quick, hidden peeks of her mobile phone for any recent texts from Sora or Riku. But there had been none. Halfway during the lesson, Kairi was just about to figure out the answer for one of the more challenging questions when the door to the classroom suddenly burst open. Kairi glanced up.
"WOAH!" A voice shouted out in alarm.
The sound of feet losing their balance and a loud thump echoed the classroom from the floor. Many of the students laughed.
"Ah, here he is." Kairi stated in a low, moaning voice.
She knew exactly who this class clown was.
"Sora, get up from the floor and wait outside the door, I'll speak with you later!" The Teacher of the class demanded in a controlled manner. "And sort yourself out, you're a mess!"
Sora had rushed to the classroom as fast as he could but tripped up when barging through the door. This was due him not checking up on his loose shoe laces. When he got to his feet, Kairi could understand what the Teacher meant when she saw how he was dressed: his shirt was creased and untidy, trousers loosely hanging with his undone belt, shoe laces loosely untied, and his school tie not done up at all, causing it to hang loosely round his neck. Even his bag that had been resting on his back was open all the way; the stuff inside just freely hanging out, some of his equipment falling to the floor. Kairi noticed easily that Sora was completely tired; he had bloodshot eyes and his hair was very scruffy. Sora lazily stepped outside the door of the classroom and closed it without any complaints. Kairi shook her head in annoyance and continued on with her writing, having to rethink her whole solution to the question as she completely forgot the answer.
A few minutes later, the Teacher stepped out the room to have a talk with Sora. Right when she closed the door; the whole class began to have a conversation with each other, lowering to volume of their voices so that the Teacher couldn't hear them. Kairi knew that they were about Sora.
"Ever since he returned to school, he’s become the class clown!" A girl at a front table complained, who wasn't at all impressed by what happened.
"Got to admit though, that was hilarious!" A boy sitting towards the other end of the room confessed, trying to prevent himself from laughing.
"Something must have happened to him during the time he was missing the whole of last year."
"If he carries on like this, he'll be suspended from school!"
“He might as well not have bothered coming back!”
“What an idiot!"
Suddenly, the whole of the class halted their conversation to listen in to what was happening outside; the sudden rise in the Teacher’s voice caught everyone’s attention.
"You think that’s a good enough excuse for turning up to class late, making a fool of yourself AND disturbing my lesson!? Well I’ll tell you now, it isn’t!" The Teacher’s voice bellowed.
"But it is true! I am really sorry I'm late Miss." Sora voiced apologised, who sounded calm and casual, but a hint of frustration loomed.
"Ever since you've been back at school, your behaviour has dropped to the floor. Before you went missing; you were mostly on time to lessons, your homework had almost always been in on the deadline and you were always trying your best. But now you’re a COMPLETE Slacker! This is the last - and I mean LAST – chance I’m giving you! If you don't change your ways and go back to how you were back then, then you will fail this Subject and others as well! You will ruin your life if you don’t change your behaviour! Do you understand me clearly!?" The Teacher ranted on.
"Yes, I do Miss." Sora understood.
"Are you sure?" The Teacher checked.
"Definitely." Sora confirmed.
" ... Listen, you’re a good person. I hate shouting at you, so promise me you'll go back to your normal self. Before you go in, tidy yourself up, sit down, don't talk, turn to page 94 and complete the questions at the bottom." The teacher then ordered, there was a hint of sympathy in her voice.
With that, the Teacher stepped back in the room, followed by Sora. All the students in the class instantly began to work again, as if they hadn’t listened in at all. Sora was fairly tidier than before but still had his scruffy hair and bloodshot eyes. He seemed fairly pale and exhausted. He strolled along the rows of tables and sat down on his seat next to Kairi, placing the equipment he needed from his bag on the table. He seemed to be aware that the other students were whispering about him and glancing back to him, but he did not seem too bothered about it. He started on the work, trying not to doze off. His head dipped a few times, and once even thumped his head on the table by accident.
"Tch! I can't believe her! She gave me an afterschool detention TODAY! On a FRIDAY! What, does she live in the school or something!?" Sora bellowed loudly in frustration. “This is ridiculous!”
It was now break-time, after the 2nd lesson had finished. Sora was now fully awake and as healthy as always, although he still yawned a few times. He sat opposite Kairi on a bench in the school grounds.
"She's right though; ever since you've returned to school, you've slacked off. And admitting to her at the end of the lesson that you didn't complete the homework that was set last week didn't help your case either." Kairi explained coolly, beginning to eat her apple.
"I did! I just left it on my desk back at home!" Sora defended himself.
"Right … that’s your excuse every time. So why were you so late? I was almost late to morning registration waiting for you and Riku at the entrance!” She complained, but then noticed that Riku still hasn’t shown up yet. “By the way, where is Riku?"
"I was late because I overslept again." Sora admitted innocently as he began to eat a bag of chips.
Kairi was furious, but tried her best to keep herself calm.
"And Riku-" Sora began, about to bite on a chip.
WHACK!
"AAH!" Sora had suddenly been smacked on the head hard, which in turn made him miss chomping a chip and instead biting his tongue.
"Riku had to wait for THIS numbskull to realise he had 5 minutes to get ready and arrive to school before classes began." Riku explained as he finally made an appearance. Of course, it was he who smacked Sora round the head.
Riku seemed tidy and awake, His uniform neat and his bag zipped up. But he tried to keep his shirt loose to follow with the style of the students in the school.
"Whyth didth you do thatth for!?" Sora frustratingly asked Riku, holding his tongue to stop the bleeding.
Riku ignored him and sat down next to him on the bench.
"Couldn't you have left him there so you could get here on time? Or at least text me to say you two were going to be late. Then I would have known before registration." Kairi asked out to Riku.
"I was going to, but Sora insisted me to wait for him." Riku moaned, giving an evil glare towards Sora.
Sora glared back at him hesitantly; he let go of his tongue and put it back in his mouth swiftly so he wouldn't bite it again if he receives another whack on the head.
"When we finally left, we had no other choice but to leap from rooftop to rooftop as fast as we could. It still took us a while though with Sora dropping his things from his bag that he couldn't be bothered to zip up properly!" Riku continued irritatingly, raising a fist at Sora.
"I hope I still have everything." Sora murmured worriedly.
"You'd better hope we weren't seen on the rooftops!" Riku threatened him, shaking a fist.
Sora jumped back. Kairi giggled. And then saw Tidus, Wakka and Selphie heading up to join them.
The school day continued at a usual pace, slowly in some lessons and quickly in others; Sora receiving complaints in some lessons and detentions in others. Kairi knew he had to miss out on Lunch break due to him having another detention for Geography because he had not completing enough of his homework that was set for him last Monday. And Riku had Physical training so he wasn't going to be around. Kairi then decided to hang around with Selphie the whole of the Lunch break. Afternoon registration and last lesson seemed to drag on. But once it was all finished she felt relieved, looking forward to the weekend.
Kairi and Riku waited for Sora to finish up with his afterschool detention, spending time on the computers in the IT labs. Finally, after he was released, the three of them headed home together until they reached the crossroads. Kairi then turned and waved to Sora and Riku as they headed in the opposite directions.
"See you tomorrow on the island!" Sora shouted out in a happy tone, giving out a cheesy smile.
"Yeah, don't be late!" Kairi jokingly replied, giggling.
Kairi strolled through the normal, quiet roads and paths, minding her own business. But suddenly she caught eye of something in the corner of her sight, standing in the middle of a road she was just strolling past. Kairi swiftly turned to see what, or who, had been standing there. But whatever it had disappeared straight away the moment she turned. Was she imagining things? No, she couldn't have. But whatever it had been was gone now. Kairi turned back and continued down here. But then she suddenly felt strange. She was walking as normal, but her mind was phasing out. It was as if she wasn't in control of her own anymore. It was as if she was leaving her own body. Then everything suddenly blacked out.

Kairi suddenly jumped as she woke up, she was very dazed. It took her a while to realise that she had been dreaming, or rather, having a flashback of the Friday just been. It was now a Tuesday, 3 days since the tragic incident on Destiny Island and the second disappearance of Sora and Riku (as that had occurred on a Saturday). But now she realised she had woken up in a place she had no clue about. She examined the room but it was too dark to tell what was around her. She was lying against a wall, wearing her usual outfit but tiny marks of dark red on her lap. She began to feel a painful throb in the side of her head. She weakly lifted her hand from her lap and felt the area on her head. He then examined the palm of her hand and noticed a vague amount of blood dripping down her palm. Where was she? How did this happen? She couldn't remember anything of what happened between the incident on the island, and the day of her flashback, and now. Then, she heard faint footsteps, treading towards her.
"Wh-who's there?" She asked hesitantly, frightened.
All of a sudden a flame torch above her head lit up. She squinted, not being used to the sudden light. She then saw two figures appearing from the Darkness, one beside the other. The figure on the left strode up closer towards her and spoke. Kairi was now able to see this man’s detail more clearly.
"The name's Xaphire; I hope you had a pleasant nap, Kairi." The man introduced himself, giving of a dark, unpleasant aura.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment