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Kairi shakily clutched her books in her chest, eyes staring straight down on the floor to avoid any of the gazes that were on her. Breathe, Kairi, breathe. Everything will be okay as long as you watch your breathing. A drip of sweat rolled down her forehead as her hands grew clammy. It didn't help that her anxiety was slowly increasing with every step she took towards her locker room.

"Hey, isn't she that girl who can't—"

"Dude, shut up, are you blind? She's right there; she can hear you."

"Who cares if she can hear me? She's just a freak of nature." Kairi could crush her books with the grip she had on them as she got closer to the people, who were making sure to steer clear away from her path. She wasn't complaining—she wanted them to stay away from her. It made the day go by a lot, lot easier that way.

Great, great, she thought happily, at this rate, I'll be okay for the day, and—

Crash!

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. I wasn't watching where I was goi—hey, are you okay?" The boy who had accidentally bumped into her by the side stretched out a hand towards her crippling figure to check if she was okay, but before he could do anything, her shriek stopped him.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed, her books laying forgotten on the floor as she hugged herself and put her back against the lockers. "Don't touch me, don't touch me!" The boy quickly took his hand away and frowned out of worry, all eyes now on them. He glanced at the books that were on the ground and was about to pick them up for her, but before he could do anything, one of his friends pulled him by the shoulder and away from her.

"Don't even try to concern yourself with her. You'll waste your time with this freak. C'mon, let's go." Kairi watched in fear as the group of boys quickly got away from her. It wasn't until they were out of plain sight that she finally calmed down enough to pick up her books and go. This time, she nearly sprinted, not wanting to be in the flooded hallway any second longer.

Once in her first period history class, Kairi sat herself down in her desk that was in the far back away. Finding herself a bit early, she simply crossed her arms on the desk and rested her head on them. It was only the morning, and she was already exhausted. She had hoped that her reputation in this high school was enough for people to get the hint to stay away from her, but it backfired, seeing that someone dared to walk that close to her.

She rose up when the bell rang and took out her book for the period. As she opened to the page that was instructed of her, she stared at her two hands, which were still slightly shaking from the touch of a male.

"Dude, did you know that Sora literally got assaulted by her screams this morning?" she heard one of her classmates whisper to his friend. "She's got some nerves. All he did was accidentally bump into her, and she just explodes like that!"

"I was right there when it happened. Geez, it was just a small bump." Kairi tried not to cry as she heard all the hateful comments about her. She must've bumped into someone popular for them to just talk like that right in front of her.

It's not like I wanted to be like this…

Closing her eyes and clenching her hands into fists, she willed herself to just get over it for the period so that she could focus in class. This is normal, Kairi. This is the life you just have to live here. Don't be influenced like this. Don't.

As her history teacher went on about the times of the Romans, Kairi wondered why she just had to be a germ to society, why she turned out to be this way, and why she had to deal with this suffering alone. Hiding her face in her hands, she could only retreat back into her shell for safety, away from the looks of scorn and disgust.

During winters, she always wore turtle necks; it made her feel less bare and more protected as the cloth covered almost every layer of skin on her body. Hair always tied in a pony tail and glasses always sitting on the bridge of her nose, she really did fit the image of a closeted freak. Sometimes she did look at the other girls around her with envy. With the way they glowed with youth and the pretty clothes that they wore that Kairi can never imagine on her own body, she just wished that she could be like them too.

Keep dreaming, 'cause you're too disgusting. Kairi let out a sigh as she braced herself for the bell. Every time the bell rang for the end of class, it marked her death wish. She would be forced to mesh along with everyone, share the same air as everyone, and get compressed between every single body that made her nauseous.

Every day, every day, every day…

When school was finally over, it was time for the day to actually start. Walking slowly down the sidewalk and towards the bus stop, Kairi dreaded what she had to do when she arrived home. Even though school gave her a tough time, it was solace compared to what awaited her at home. She sat and waited for the bus to come. Rather, she hoped the bus wouldn't come.

"Pretty grass," she commented to herself as she played with it with her feet. It glistened underneath the sun that was hidden behind the thin clouds that marked the sky. At least the world is still beautiful.

When the bus came, she readily clambered up the stairs and sat at the far end of the bus, where there was barely anybody. She made sure she sat in the corner while placing her bag on the seat next to her so that no one else could sit there. She felt bad when people had to stand when there were no seats available during rush hour, but she couldn't afford to have an episode on the bus ride home.

Resting her head on the window, she stared at the trees that passed by and the trail of cars that traveled alongside the bus.

And that was when she just let the tears slip from her eyes and down her pale cheeks. These fifteen minutes of solitude was the only time she could just let it all out before she hardened herself once more. The bus ride home—her only time to just be herself.

The world is still beautiful, Kairi. It is, it is.

~.~.~

"Jesus, you good for nothing—just get out!" Kairi shakily put down the hot frying pan and turned off the stove. She flinched when her father threw the plate down into the sink, glad that it didn't break from the force. Quickly washing her hands, she ran upstairs and shut herself up in her room. She could hear her father's rage downstairs and the clink of beer bottles being rummaged around in the fridge. Sliding down the door, she covered her ears, letting the sounds of silence just flood over her and calm her down.

"Kairi, it's okay, it's okay. Just keep calm and you'll be okay," Kairi muttered to herself, watching her breathing as she shut her eyes shut. "You're going to be okay. You're going to sleep fine tonight. You will, you will." Opening her eyes to see the family portrait hung above her wall, she stared at the kind eyes of her mother and cried. "I wish you were still here, Mom. I think Dad also wishes you were here too…"

The next day at school, she could feel the stares intensify.

"Sora wouldn't hurt a fly."

"She's more of a freak than I thought she was."

"She seriously makes me uncomfortable at school."

"Hey, what'll happen if we just get close to her?" Kairi felt her skin crawl the moment she heard that. She clutched her books and attempted to walk faster so that nothing could happen, but she was a little bit too slow.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's the rush?" She inhaled violently as she stared at the guy who had placed a hand on the lockers, blocking her path. She ignored his gaze and tried to circle around him, but another person blocked that path as well. The third one blocked her path from behind. Looking at all three of them in the face with fear, she recognized them as some players from the blitzball team.

"Look, she shrinks like a dry sponge when I just do this to her!" One of them took a finger and hovered it near her cheek, causing her to plaster herself against the locker to be as far away as she could. Even if she didn't go ballistic when no one touches her, just close proximity was enough to trigger her.

"I need to go to class," she tried, but that only earned snickers and giggles from the three boys.

"Tidus, stop being such a bully. You know she doesn't like it when you do that."

"Oh, shut up, Wakka. What do you think you're doing with your foot?" Kairi looked down and paled to see his shoe touching hers. She could already feel her heart rate pick up, but no matter what mantra she was reciting in her head, she could feel herself already starting to get dizzy. They were cruel; they were sticking so close to her but they made sure that there was no physical contact at all just to taunt her.

"Little girl, you're going to be alright. This kind man will take care of you tonight." Shutting her eyes closed, she tried not to vomit her breakfast from this morning.

"Is she falling asleep already? Hey, hey," Kairi was about to lose it when one of the guys reached their hand towards her shoulder, but before he could do anything, a hand stopped him.

"Guys, did you run out of things to do?"

"Captain!" It was as if they were controlled under a spell, for the three boys suddenly took huge steps away from her to face their captain. Kairi used this moment to stabilize herself and take deep breaths. The person they called captain had a huge frown etched on his face as he stared down all three of them. He, the person who everyone knew as the bundle of smiles and laughter, never looked so upset as he looked at his teammates one-by-one.

"I usually don't get mad, but when I do, I can be your worst nightmare." As if to emphasize his point, he punched a fist into his hand. "Do you want me to be your worst nightmare?"

"No, cap'!"

"Now get going." Sora tried not to break into a smile as he watched his teammates just skedaddle out of his sight. Letting out a small laugh when they were out of earshot, he turned to address Kairi. "Sorry about tha—oh, she already disappeared. Hm, darn." Kairi was long gone before he could say anything to her. "And I wanted to talk to her too… I don't think I'm that scary." He scratched his head, as if completely mystified by her disappearance, before one of his friends called out to him.

"Sora, you're going to be late to class, you goofball. Leonhart's not going to give you any special treatment, so hurry up! Sora!"

"Yada, yada, I heard you the first time, Riku. What a grumpy mama chicken you are!" Looking back behind him to make sure the redhead did indeed disappear off somewhere, Sora ran to catch up to his friend.

Kairi clutched her chest, calming herself down so that she wouldn't start freaking out. High schoolers these days sure were devious; that was the first time that anybody tried to pull any gimmicks like that against her. She sighed—the last thing she wanted to become was someone's entertainment.

"No one understands…" Although, she didn't expect anyone to understand anyway. Shouldering her backpack securely, she rushed off to class, putting what happened this morning behind her. I would've been toast if that guy didn't show up. They called him captain…

Kairi didn't feel like eating lunch that day, so she opted to just head outside to a secluded area behind the high school. The warm sun of the winter warmed the grass, making it appear as if it was glowing. Because it looked so soft and lush, Kairi couldn't help but just sit down and lay on it. Nature was one of the only calming forces in her life. It tickled her and always caressed her with love and affection. It never failed to set her mind into an everlasting serenity.

Loving the way the sunshine warmed up her entire body, Kairi closed her eyes and let nature itself lull her to sleep.

Sora, who was right by the bench at the corner, was surprised to see someone just sleeping on the grass right underneath the sun when he was about to walk back into the school. He usually spent time around this area just to do some clear-headed thinking; the last thing he expected to see was a sleeping princess all comfortable in the grass. When he quietly got a little bit closer, he recognized her as the redhead that not only bumped into him the other day, but also ran away from him this morning.

"Grass is soft, isn't it?" he murmured to himself as he smiled. He had seen her many times before—the "freak" that haunted the hallways of the school whenever she was present. She always had a frightened look on her face, but here outside on the grass, she looked like what she was supposed to look like—a girl with no nightmares haunting her.

Feeling a bit magical, Sora took out a slip of paper and scribbled a few things on it. Quietly sneaking up to her, he placed it right next to her before he scampered off back into the school.

When she woke up, she read the mysterious piece of paper.

I think a smile fits your image a little bit more. Smile more, since your life is still beautiful :)

Hey guys! This chapter just serves as a little sneak-peek/preview of what I'm going to write when I finish my other fanfic Mending Strands. I had to write this chapter down first before I forget! I would really appreciate reviews for this, since I want to know if you guys dig this type of story/flow or not. I promise chapters get longer than this (I write a lot lot longer chapters than this, I swear). I'll update this more frequently once I finish my other fanfic! Thanks guys, I hope you enjoy this :)