Kairi's Secret...

"Here! Try these on!" Selphie dumped a giant pile of outfits into Sora's arms. "Tell me which one fits!"

Sora looked at her incredulously. "Are you serious? What am I supposed to do with all of these?"

"Just do it!" she snapped, causing him to flinch.

"O-okay." Sora carried his load into one of the dressing room booths and locked the door behind him. Staring at the assorted clothing, he shook his head. "What am I supposed to try on first?" He rummaged around until he found what he thought was a perfectly acceptable outfit.

Selphie was waiting outside, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. After a few minutes, she knocked on the door. "Are you done in there?"

"Uh...yeah. I think so," Sora stammered.

"Well, hurry up and let me see it!" Kairi's body came out slowly, revealing her clad in form-fitting blue shorts, heart emblazoned pink tank-top and a white cotton half-jacket. Selphie was stunned. "That's...actually a pretty good choice." Sora frowned.

"I don't know, Selphie." He turned around to get a better look at Kairi's back. "It's kinda clinging at my butt."

"Well, duh! What do you think guys look at first?"

Sora shrugged. "I don't know, the eyes?"

Selphie sighed. "Whatever. Are you telling me that if a cute girl walked right by you, the eyes would be the first thing you'd notice?"

The Keyblade Master put Kairi's hands on her hips defensively. "Well, I do! You can tell a lot by a person's eyes!"

Selphie turned Kairi's body around and pointed. "So what you see in the mirror doesn't pique your interest at all?"

Sora gave her a sideways look. "Why exactly are you telling me to stare at Kairi's butt?"

Selphie threw her hands up in disbelief. "I give up. Trying to explain things to a guy is not exactly my forte." Sora stood silent for a moment.

"Say, Selphie. You don't happen to know why Kairi's been distant lately, do you?" He stared into Kairi's reflection, gazing at her innocent-looking eyes. "Um...she's not...seeing someone else is she?"

Selphie jumped. "What?! How could you think that?!"

Sora shrugged helplessly. "I don't know! That's the first thing that came to mind! What else could it be?"

Selphie hesitated. Kairi obviously didn't tell Sora for a reason, but the story was going to reach him eventually. "Okay, the truth is...Kairi's entered the Miss Teen Destiny Pageant." She expected Sora to display some type of wild reaction, but instead Kairi's face showed total confusion.

"The what?"

"Sorry, but she didn't want me to tell you." Selphie couldn't help feeling sorry for Sora's cluelessness.

But he still didn't get it. "But what exactly is this pageant?"

Selphie stared at him in disbelief. "You've never heard of it? Teenage girls have been doing it for years! It's basically a beauty contest that's split into four categories: Evening gown, swimsuit, talent and personality. Evening gown and swimsuit are pretty much self-explanatory."

Sora nodded thoughtfully. "I think I understand talent too. But how do you judge personality?"

"The judges give the contestant one personal question to answer," Selphie explained. "Based on how they respond determines the judge's score. The winner gets crowned Miss Teen Destiny and receives a 500,000 munny college scholarship."

"500,000 munny?! For college?!" Sora looked at Selphie suspiciously. "So why aren't you entering?"

Selphie shrugged. "I'm not really into the pageant thing. Besides, I already earned a scholarship a few months ago from the Scrooge McDuck Foundation."

"Yeah, he would have a lot of munny to spare..." Sora muttered under his breath. Then in a normal tone he asked "So when is this pageant anyways?"

"Day after tomorrow."

Sora let out a sigh of relief. "Well, no worries then. The paopu fruit's magic should wear off before that time."

"Right. That's why we're here in the first place, to pick out winning outfits." Selphie began pushing Sora back to the stall. "And it helps having a guy's opinion on this, so we've got our bases covered. See?"

Sora blinked. "Uh...yeah. I guess." Before he went back to change into another outfit, one last thought was nagging at him. "Hey, Selphie? Question..."

"Yes?"

Sora looked down at Kairi's chest. "How do girls run with these things?"

Selphie gave him a funny look. "Very carefully," she stated simply. "And if you weren't in Kairi's body right now, I'd smack you for staring at them."

* * *

"OW!" Kairi found herself once again sitting in the dirt. For over half an hour, she and Riku had been sparring with wooden dowels over near the shoreline. Kairi was skilled in a lot of things. But when it came to sword-fighting...

Riku massaged his forehead in frustration. "You're letting your guard down again, Kairi."

Kairi grinned sheepishly. "Right. Sorry."

"I think it's maybe your stance that's the problem." Riku extended his hand, helping Kairi up to her feet. "The way you're standing right now, you look like you're about to play tennis."

"What's wrong with that?"

"First of all, you're giving your opponent a lot of area to hit." Riku stroked his chin thoughtfully. "And second of all, with your weapon directly in front, you don't get much power in your strikes."

"Gotcha." Kairi got into position again. "Sorry, I guess I've got a lot on my mind at the moment."

"You mean about the Miss Teen Destiny Pageant?"

Kairi's eyebrows shot up. "What the...How'd you..."

Riku flashed a smirk. "Selphie told Tidus who told me and Wakka." Seeing the worried look on her face, he quickly added, "Don't worry, though. No one was able to tell Sora yet."

Kairi let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! I just hope that the paopu fruit wears off before the pageant."

"Why didn't you tell Sora?" he asked curiously. "He'd have been thrilled to hear you were in it."

"That's just it! I don't think I'd be able to concentrate if he knew." Kairi glanced up at the morning sky. "You know how he is sometimes. He's sweet and all, but he can sometimes be a little..."

"Enthusiastic?" Riku guessed.

Kairi snorted. "I was thinking more along the lines of 'smothering.' I'm glad he cares so much about me, but..."

"You don't want him to get involved," Riku finished. She nodded in agreement. "Well, it kinda explains a lot. Sora thought you were being a little distant when you two were together." Kairi's eyes grew round.

"Sora said that?"

"Yeah, he was really worried about you. He was going all 'Kairi's in trouble, but she won't tell me anything! Help me, Riku!'" Kairi hung her head down in shame.

"I didn't realize not telling him would..."

"Annoy the heck out of me? Yeah, it does. But if you're so embarrassed that Sora wouldn't like you if you lost..." Riku shook his head in amusement. "Well, he's supposed to show up in a few hours. You can tell him when he gets here. Just make it clear to him that this is something you have to do on your own."

She smiled at him with newfound admiration. "Thank you...Riku."

Riku's eyes widened at her. "Uh, Kairi?"

"Yeah, Riku?"

Riku scrunched his face in a disgusted manner. "Please don't look at me like that with Sora's face. It's extremely...disturbing."