InsaneJournal

Current mood:	complacent
Entry tags:	character-fic, het, kairi, quistis/kairi anthology, sora/kairi(anti)

Fic--Glass Cages--PG-13
Title: Glass Cages
Author: Rubyfruit Pixie
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Characters: Sora, Kairi, Olette, random others slipping in and out of the narrative.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: References to drugs, sex, and violence, profanity.
Disclaimer: Tis fanfiction. I own nothing but this story. And Twinkle! Magazine. That's completely fictional.
Summary: Cages were made for animals, not people. Unfortunately, most of the people around Kairi didn't seem to get the memo.
A/N: More Kairi-centric fic-ness This time, it's Sora/Kairi. Yes, you've read correctly. It's Sora/Kairi. Just not in the way you think it is. It takes place almost a year before "On Days Like This". Inspired by "Not Ready to Make Nice" by The Dixie Chicks.



"Just take the damn picture."

Three days before Kairi was to be married off to Sora, she went to an interview of some magazine or another, and here she was at the photo shoot.

"This is goin' on the cover," the photographer said. Kairi looked over at the nondescript man. Average height, average build, brown hair, white polo shirt, blue jeans. Kairi sighed.

"Wonderful. Put this on your cover," she said, "And we'll see what the public has to say." She took a pose, pointing the toy gun at the camera, and smiled widely.

Everyone on the set was absolutely speechless. The flash went off. Kairi grinned. "Now, what do you think of that pose?"

The photographer stared for a while. "We're done here," he said, "Let's go, people!" He shouted instructions at the people on set, and Kairi walked off, taking her bottle of Liquid Darkness with her.

--------------

"Kairi! What are your plans with Sora?"

"Will you be starting a family soon?"

"Is it true that the whole damn thing's a sham?"

"Was that really Liquid Darkness?"

"What about the rejected cover?

Kairi sighed. Paparazzi at her door again. A week later and she still hasn't heard the end of it from the media. She guessed that it was a bad idea to drink Liquid Darkness on camera for a magazine like Twinkle!. It was probably an even worse idea to sit there with her legs open like some kind of whore. Even worse still was the interview where she said that everyone involved in the Twinkle! machine ought to be shot, and that its readership consisted of lobotomized soccer moms who thought they were keeping up with the "hip new cultural cues", in the words of Twinkle! itself.

Kairi smirked. "I plan on leaving him, I don't particularly like children, it was Liquid Darkness, don't care about the rejected shot, and the whole thing is a fabrication invented by people like you, and the Council of Solaris. Good day, gentlemen." She slammed her door and sat there on the big, fluffy couch, wondering what the hell happened to her life.

"Sometimes, the best you can do is simply slip into the role, and all will be fine"

Olette told her that once. More than once. The problem was not in Kairi, but in this warped version of the world Kairi lived in. Such was life as a Princess of Heart. Major or Minor, one lived in a glass cage, and there were two options. Option one seemed the easiest, in Kairi's mind. She could simply comply with her captors' wishes and make a life for herself in that little cage, always knowing what was waiting for her just beyond the transparent bars, but never making any effort to get out of it.

Kairi shook her head. Too easy. Too much like giving up for Kairi's taste. Instead, she merrily stomped on the floor of her glass cage, seeing that the ground below is not so far below. Twinkle! Magazine and the Council of Solaris could all dance down the road to the Lower Realm and stay there for all Kairi cared.

She grabbed her bottle of Liquid Darkness and poured a bit in her lemonade. Once that issue hit newsstands everywhere else, the real shitstorm would begin.

--------

"Kairi! What's this?!"

Kairi cringed. She just had to wake up to the sweet dulcet tones of Sora yelling out an obvious question. "A magazine," Kairi answered, "A stupid one that Wakka wouldn't use to line his birdcage with."

Sora frowned. "No! What's the meaning of this?!" He showed her the cover, saying, "I don't believe this! What kind of princess does this stuff!?"

Kairi sighed. The shitstorm really did start today.

Sora opened the magazine and began reading, "'I think that it's really embarrassing to have to do an interview about a fake engagement in a fake magazine. Twinkle! is a bottom-feeder in the ocean of magazines published today'?! ...If you pull a few more stunts like this, they'll have you ejected from your position for sure."

Kairi rolled her eyes. Maybe that was the object of going to an interview in a magazine like Twinkle!, drinking Liquid Darkness and using enough foul language to put Cid to shame. Sora was a nice guy, a great friend, but she just couldn't see herself spending the rest of her life with him in the context of marriage. Marriage implied living together, unable to leave, and having to endure Sora climbing on top of her two or three days a week.

Kairi sighed. "Sora, we need to talk."

---------

"You're what?!" Sora exclaimed, "You're not allowed to! You can't! What about me? What about my position in the Council--"

Kairi sighed. "Yeah, Sora. What about you? You're being really damn selfish about this."

Sora rolled his eyes. "I'm being selfish?! You're the one tossing years of memories down the toilet!"

"Yeah," Kairi said, "We can still be friends. I just don't want to be in this phony engagement with you."

"But--"

"Just leave, Sora!" Kairi exclaimed, "Leave willingly or I'll push you out the window! Then what will the press have to say?"

As Sora made his hasty retreat, Kairi grabbed a notebook and pen out of the side table drawer.

-------

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Destiny Islands, the Four Points, and the Multi-World Alliance, I am here to announce my resignation from my position as Princess of Heart. As of yesterday, I am no longer in that position. I have no regrets about my decision to resign..."

Thus started what should have been a painful resignation speech. Instead, Kairi was smiling as she said the words she had written so hastily the day before.

"Furthermore, I'm stepping down because the whole thing is bullshit! Goodnight, everybody!"

The crowd was absolutely silent as Kairi stood there at the podium. She smiled as she walked off, hit by yet another wave of questions.

"Kairi! Was the interview in Twinkle! Magazine the reason you resigned?"

"Kairi! What will you do now?"

"Kairi! Is it true that you're leaving Elysium Academy now that you've resigned?"

Kairi smiled. "No, Vacation, and no, respectively," she said.

---------

"...What?!"

Kairi sighed. She knew that Olette wouldn't be happy with her decision to resign. Kairi also knew that Olette would probably scold her over ditching Sora.

Kairi said, "Yeah. I resigned. It was either that or involuntary ejection, and you know how that works."

Olette cringed. "I guess you're right. Now, the thing with Sora? Resigning? Do you regret any of it?"

"Nope," Kairi said, "Maybe I'll regret it someday, but I doubt it. Right now, no regrets."

Olette nodded. "I see. Sort of. I don't get it, but as long as you can deal with the consequences."

Kairi smiled. Consequences were funny things. "I can deal. Now, lunch? My treat."

"All right," Olette answered, "Let's go."

(End!)