When I Grow Up
"We have to do a presentation by the end of the week," Kairi informs Riku on the walk home. "We're studying careers and plans for the future." He looks interested, and tilts his head to look down at her.
"Have you decided what you'll do?" He asks, because he really is curious. Kairi is a wonderful, intelligent girl. She gets good grades, and he doesn't doubt that she could do anything she wants.
Her face flushes and she shakes it back and forth quickly as though it will shake off the redness. "I, um," She stammers, then quickly turns to Sora. "What do you want to do when you grow up?" She asks.
Sora blinks. "Grow up?" At this, the older boy does his best not to laugh. The tone Sora speaks in implies that he had never considered not being fifteen years old, and that's just so very Sora. After a moment of thought, the brunette frowns. "I don't know. I can't think of anything I want to do." He says. "What about you, Riku?"
"I wouldn't mind being an author." Riku admits.
Kairi smiles serenely. "I bet you'd tell the best stories."
Riku shrugs off the compliment, then nudges her. "You never said what your plans are."
The blush returns, and the stuttering comes with it. Awkwardly, she starts toying with the hem of her uniform skirt, before finally saying "I want to get married and be a house wife."
This time, Riku blinks. He doesn't find anything wrong or embarrassing about that, and wonders what had her so flustered. Sora, however, does not seem to realize how difficult such a thing was to say for Kairi, and starts laughing. When the red-head is about to get mad, Sora recovers and says;
"Me too."
Which Riku also has no problem with. Of course, they'll all grow up - and getting married just seems to happen with grown-ups. It's the 'house wife' part that's bothering him. Never mind that the brunette has taken to calling Riku his husband and Kairi his wife, lately.
"And who," Riku asks teasingly, "do you think would be willing to marry and support you?" Or leave him alone with small children, Riku thinks, but keeps that part private.
Sora looks at him evenly. "You. And Kairi."
"What?" Kairi asks incredulously. Riku is glad that she's sane, and waits for her to explain to Sora that marriages don't happen when there are three people, and that whether he likes it or not, the blue eyed boy is not capable of being a house wife. "You expect Riku to support us both? I think one of us should get a part-time job, at least."
Riku frowns. "Kairi, that's..."
"I know, right?" She asks, interpreting his hesitance as an agreement. "Besides, the marriage won't work out." Riku waits expectantly for her to make sense. "Remember when you two were seven and eight? You proposed to me, but I only accepted Riku's. Sorry, Sora." Riku resists the urge to hit his head against the brick wall nearby.
"We were seven!" Sora whines. "Am I allowed to try again?"
Kairi shrugs, noncommittally.
"Fine," Sora says, with a slight pout. "Because, you know, otherwise, my husband is cheating on me with my wife, and that's just no good."
Riku sputters. "Sora!"
"What? Anyway, Kairi, wanna get married to Riku and me?"
"As long as you get the part time job." Kairi says.
"Okay." Sora agrees.
Riku just stares, and wonders how he has managed to find such horrible, insane, stupid, and amazingly wonderful friends. Kairi grabs Riku's hand in her own, and Sora's in her other, and Riku thinks this might be okay, if perhaps they could find some better terms or names for the relationship.
Needless to say, when Kairi and Sora present to their class, they get a lot of odd looks.
Riku buys them both rings the next week, even if it was a game or a joke. Sora puts the ring on his necklace chain, while Kairi wears hers on her finger. It takes two months, but Kairi and Sora save up enough to buy Riku a ring that matches. They laugh and mention, when they never see him wearing it, that rings aren't his style anyway.
He blushes, just slightly, and hides behind his bangs, idly toying with the ring he keeps hidden in his pocket.
Pastel Ink