So I've been wanting to do a fic about Kairi for a while. I also just recently discovered that I want to do a fic about Seifer as well. So here's my stone. I'm aiming for two birds. Let's see how I do.

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Chapter 1

Twilight King

The King of Twilight Town.

That was what they called him. He ran the streets, made sure people stayed in line, kept people out of trouble, except when he brought it on himself. He was a leader, and they knew it. It was why so many people disliked him. They envied him. They wanted his strength, his intelligence, his ability to lead. But they didn't have it, so they hated him for it. Him, the King of Twilight Town.

Actually, the people who hated him didn't call him the King. They just called him Seifer. Only two people actually referred to him as the King, and to be honest, it was just a phase that they were all growing tired of rather quickly. Phases and names came and went as quickly as the sun did in this town. Especially during summer.

It was warm out, and the sun was beginning to set, throwing the sandlot into a purplish shadow that made the place glow in an almost mystical way. The King leaned casually against one of the walls, chewing on the remains of his popsicle stick and trying to look cool. He wasn't thinking about anything in particular, but he looked like he was concentrating very hard.

"Hey, Seifer?"

"King."

Seifer looked up from his daze at his two loyal followers. Rai looked embarrassed and Fuu was glaring at him hard enough to turn him to stone.

"Sorry, King. I forgot, ya know?"

With a sigh, Seifer pushed away from the wall and scratched his head.

"Forget it. Seifer sounds cooler anyway," he said with confident reserve. "What is it, Rai?"

"Well," the brawny Rai shuffled uncomfortably. "It's startin' to get dark, ya know? And my parents don't like it when I get home too late, ya know? So I was wonderin' if we could disband for the day…ya know?"

"Agree." Fuu's simplistic voice dropped into the conversation with all the tact of an anvil.

Seifer looked at Rai, and then at Fuu. They didn't need to ask his permission to go home. They were free to go whenever they wanted. But he had an image he needed to keep up.

"Alright, you're dismissed. Meet back here tomorrow at nine."

"Yes, sir!" came the reply in unison. The pair struck a swift salute before turning and running up the stairs leading out of the sandlot.

"See you guys tomorrow…" Seifer whispered, more to himself than anyone else.

The day had been exactly like the day before it, which, incidentally, had been exactly like the day before that. He had made a point to get his summer work done early on so that his teacher wouldn't give him crap about not handing it in like she did last year. He had done a good job, too. He had to write a fictional story involving some well known element of Twilight Town, so he had chosen to involve the clock tower.

He remembered when he finished writing it and was going over it for errors, the story had turned out to be pretty self reflective. It was the story of a boy who everyone thinks is a delinquent but in truth helps hold things together, just like how the clock helps everyone steer their lives in the right direction.

But now that he was done with his summer work and the struggle tournament was still a week away, Seifer was bored. He wondered briefly if Hayner and his crew might be hanging around anywhere at this hour, but quickly brushed away the notion. They were trouble makers, but they were punctual for their bedtimes. His mind drifted to Setzer. He was always up for a struggle match, but what was the point? Seifer always won. He had long since become the strongest fighter in Twilight Town. Well…among the permanent residents anyway.

It was during spring break, a few months ago, when that spiky headed kid had showed up. He didn't look like much, he was dressed in pretty ridiculous clothes and his shorts were way too short. There were two…things following him; a duck and a weird dog thing. Seifer had been gloating to Rai and Fuu in the sandlot when the kid came wandering in, looking like he was lost.

Seifer didn't recognize him, and because Rai and Fuu were around, he had challenged the kid to a fight in order to rule out any chance of insubordination. Some weird old guy had shown up then, the advisor of the struggle tournaments, and told them to make it an 'official struggle battle,' or something. So they did.

And he lost.

Big time. The kid took all his orbs like it was nothing.

"Sora…"

Seifer shook his head. Where did that kid go? He wanted a rematch. He wanted to show that he was still the best in town, that he had gone easy on him or something. But that wasn't true. He had given it his all and still got his ass kicked. It was probably why he was so restless.

Here he was, the strongest guy in all of Twilight Town, but he could not shake the idea that there was someone out there who was even stronger than that. He wanted a rematch. He wanted it soon, too.

"Ah, whatever," Seifer said aloud. "Might as well go home. Got nothing better to do."

He didn't like going home. He didn't really feel like he was welcome there. Truthfully, he had yet to find a place where he really felt at home, but his house was one of the places furthest from the feeling a home should have. It looked nice. It was clean, the yard was well kept. Inside the furniture was modern and comfortable. The rooms weren't too big or too small. But still, the place reeked of loneliness.

"I'm home!" Seifer stepped past the threshold and began the cautious dance that was greeting his mother.

"You're late." The voice echoed from another room where the dull noise of the television sounded.

Seifer reached up and removed his hat, placing it on the nearby coat rack. "I don't have a bed time anymore." He removed his trench coat and hung it up as well. "We went over this a month ago."

"Yeah? Well alright. But I didn't make you any food."

Seifer bent down and pulled off his shoes, placing them carefully against the wall next to his mother's sandals. "That's alright. I ate with Rai and Fuu already." It wasn't a total lie. They had gotten ice cream an hour or so ago.

"With who?"

Seifer winced. "Shit…" he mumbled. It had been going well until then, too. "Rai and Fuu. My friends, mom."

"I know who they are." The buzzing of the TV stopped and Seifer knew his mother had turned it off. "I'm just surprised that you still spend time with them." Mentally bludgeoning himself, Seifer stepped forward and past the archway that led to the family room.

"They're my friends, why wouldn't I hang out with them?"

His mother was lying on the large white couch, dressed in loose silk pajamas. Her blonde hair was kept up in a perfect bun. Her eyes were hard and gray. "Well…I had just always assumed you would outgrow riff-raff like them."

He did his best not to show any emotion, but could feel his mouth twitch slightly. "I dunno, maybe some day. But right now I enjoy spending time with them, ok?"

With a sigh, Seifer's mother pushed herself up and brushed a stray hair out of her face. "Ok?" A cold smile slipped across her face. "You don't need my permission to have friends, Seifer." The woman's smile widened slightly, and Seifer couldn't help but think of snakes when he looked at it. "It's just that I wish you could pick people more on your level. You know what I mean?"

"I guess."

"That boy Rai, we both know he isn't very intelligent." Seifer felt his fingers curl into a fist and had to concentrate on relaxing them. "And Fuu…well she isn't pretty, and she seems very anti-social. I don't know what you see in her."

Making sure his mother's piercing gaze didn't see, Seifer took a deep breath before speaking again. "I dunno, mom."

"Well I just don't want you to lose potential by hanging around lesser children like that."

"Yeah. I'll…look out for that."

"Good boy."

"Yeah." A strained smile crossed Seifer's face. "Well I'm gonna go to sleep now." He turned away, the smile immediately dropping from his face, and headed for the stairs.

"Ok, good night, Seifer."

"Night, mom."

He took the stairs casually, making sure not to sounds as though he were in a hurry. He opened the door to his room and closed it quietly behind him. When he heard the latch click, he waited a moment, listening closely until he heard the faint sound of the TV go back on.

"Damn it!"

His fist connected with the wall, shaking the room slightly. He withdrew his hand, knuckles bruised, one of them bleeding, and punched again. The room shook for a second time.

"Who the fuck…who the fuck does she think she is!"

His hand hurt from striking the wall and he angrily brought his knuckles forward one last time, crashing them into the wall and leaving them there. Drops of blood flowed down from his hand and fell in little rivulets down the wall. He let his head fall forward, landing against the wall with a dull thud.

"Damn it."

She was the only person who could get to him like this. And he hated it. Slowly, Seifer sunk to his knees, still leaning against the blood-spattered wall. Getting angry like that had tired him out. His eyes closed and he felt something wet escape them. As he drifted to sleep, his only thought was of how he would need to bandage his hand and clean off the wall so his mom wouldn't need to know that he punched it until he bled. He wasn't about to give her ammunition like that.

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Seifer awoke to the awful and irritating noise of his alarm. It was five thirty in the morning, the same time he woke up every morning. His mother got up at six thirty, and this hour gave him just enough time to get breakfast and get out before she got up and he had to talk to her.

Remembering where he had fallen asleep, Seifer stood up shakily, massaging the crick in his neck and trying to ignore his throbbing hand. He shut off his alarm and glanced back at the wall he had been resting against. The blood had dried now and some had sunk into the carpet at the bottom.

Yawning, Seifer ran a hand through his messy hair and opened the door, walking down the hall and into the upstairs bathroom. After washing his face, he grabbed some disinfectant and some spray cleaner before walking quietly back into his room.

After scrubbing away the bloodstains as best he could, Seifer poured the disinfectant onto a cotton ball and swabbed his reddened knuckles. It stung hard, but he bit his lip and made sure it was clean before capping the disinfectant and wrapping his hand with some bandages he kept in his desk drawer.

Finally on the edge of actually being awake, Seifer glanced at the clock and headed downstairs, careful not to wake his mother. A short breakfast, made only slightly more difficult by the bandages on his right hand, and he was out the door, pulling his trench coat over his arms and slapping his hat onto his head.

For all the times he told himself he left early to avoid his mother, Seifer could not help but wonder if he was really leaving to see the sun rise over the town. The sight was beautiful, the bronze sun drifting over the edge of the buildings and coloring everything a strange purple-gold. The stones of the street glowed in the morning light and Seifer could just catch the sound of the first trolley's coming to life throughout the town.

It would be several hours before Rai or Fuu would be awake, and as usual, Seifer had no idea how to spend the lengthy time he had been given. Walking along, he found that he had come rather quickly to reach the back alley. As gorgeous as the mornings were, they always left him too much time to think. He turned the corner, his mind drifting to painful thoughts like the conversation with his mother the night before. His hand was still throbbing.

What was he doing? Rai and Fuu were his friends, he knew. But why did he act the way he did around them? It had become his trademark, his reputation. He was the leader, the 'King.' He was certainly feared and despised like a king. He passed Hayner's little meeting place. Ollette and Pence all met there. They didn't like him. Probably cause he always gave 'em a hard time.

"Why do I do that to people?" He whispered angrily.

"Don't ask me."

Seifer literally jumped at the voice. It came from behind him and in a flash he had whirled around and pulled his hands from his pockets, bringing them up in defense.

"Who's there!?"

"Geez, you're awfully jumpy."

A young girl was standing at the entrance to 'the usual spot.' She was about his age, and had long red hair. He didn't recognize her. The girl rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"You're also pretty awake for so early in the morning."

Angrily, Seifer dropped his arms and shoved him into his pockets. "And who are you? You aren't from around here."

"No, I'm not. My name's Kairi." The girl smiled a friendly smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Tch, yeah. Nice to meet you." Seifer smiled insincerely. "What are you doing in my town?" He was doing it again. Why was he doing this? He had never met this girl before and Rai and Fuu weren't around. He wasn't really like this…so why?

Kairi frowned. "Grumpy, aren't we. Maybe you aren't as much of a morning person as I thought." Seifer blinked. People didn't talk back to him like that. People responded angrily, or not at all. This was different. "What were you talking about?"

Seifer shook himself out of his confusion. She had walked in on him talking to himself. Embarrassed, he pulled his hand from his pocket and scratched his head. "Huh? Oh…nothing important. It's none of your business."

"Alright then, what's your name?"

This girl just didn't stop. She definitely wasn't from around here. "What is this, an interview?" There he went again. Why was he being so mean? "You lookin' to start a fight?" He leaned forward and pointed a finger at the girl.

Kairi cocked her head to one side. "A fight? No…not at…hey," she squinted and then stepped forward. "What happened to your hand?"

Seifer felt his face turn bright red. "Nothing! Ok? Get out of my face, would ya?" With that, he turned on his heel and began stalking off down the back alley.

"If you don't tell me your name, I'm gonna call you Grumpy!"

Seifer stopped, his face turning even redder and his mouth twitching. After a second, he turned around again, staring at her. "It's Seifer! The King of Twilight Town, you got that!"

Kairi's face went blank. "The…King?" The corners of her mouth struggled to stay flat but soon gave way to a painful smile. She blinked and in a moment she burst out laughing, doubling over and clutching her stomach. "Oh man! That's priceless!"

Seifer let out a low growl and stomped down the steps to the sandlot. His face felt like it was on fire. The King of Twilight Town? "Yeah…I know it's silly. Damn it."