Chapter Text
A Blind Date With Sora
Guest Writer: PaintedWithaPalette
Under an afternoon sky, you leaned against the railing of a bridge that stood over a pond. You had been waiting in the park for about fifteen minutes, give or take, with your mind wandering over the possible scenarios that could unfold today. You were a little nervous but held onto Riku’s reassurance from a few days prior that the person you would be meeting up with someone who was guaranteed to give you a good time, or at the very least, an interesting one. You weren’t sure how you were supposed to interpret that.
Still, despite your anxiety, the butterflies in your stomach were only suppressed by your eagerness. You were curious what kind of person they were. After all, Riku was confident enough to guarantee you a good time. You felt your expectations beginning to rise. Would they be some kind of super secret agent with connections all over Destiny Islands? Would they be some extremely handsome rich kid? Or perhaps they were an intellectual who could stimulate your mind? The possibilities were endless.
Before you could allow your mind to continue wandering further into your fantasies, you heard a voice in the short distance.
“Heeeeey!”
When you turned around, you saw a spiky-haired brunet racing towards you wearing what looked to be a tuxedo and holding a bouquet of flowers in hand. You noticed he looked confused momentarily before he tripped over himself, crashing into the pavement and effectively dirtying his pristine-looking outfit that made you feel like you were underdressed. You gasped and were quick to rush towards him and crouch down to help him up to his feet.
“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?” you asked, genuinely concerned.
“Y-Yeah,” the boy answered as winced. When he reached his feet, he rubbed the back of his head. “Oh, um... I’m guessing you’re Y/N?”
You paused before answering. “Yes, I am.”
The boy put on a smile. He seemed very friendly. “Cool! I’m…”
Suddenly, he stopped and you were left confused as to why. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, as if he were in deep thought before finally acknowledging you again.
“Oh, uh… I mean…” he trailed off, clearing his throat. “My alias would be Sora. We seem to be, uh, mutually associated with Riku. Good day, Y/N.”
You raised an eyebrow but also couldn’t help but giggle slightly at the sudden shift in his demeanor. “Oh, um… good day?”
“My, uh, humblest apologies for running late,” Sora said, bowing to you. He then seemed to notice the bouquet in his hand, successfully damaged after the fall, the flowers hunched over as if they were depressed. “Oh, no! The flowers!”
You were starting to get the impression that he was trying harder than he needed to, but even still, he couldn’t seem to hide his true self from you. Regardless, you appreciated his effort to make your time with him worthwhile and sent him a gentle smile.
“It’s okay,” you said. “Please, don’t even worry about it. It’s the thought that counts, right?”
You noticed the slightest hint of pink glowing on his cheeks as he scratched his cheek with a bashful smile. “R-Right.”
After a window of silence between the two of you, Sora spoke up again.
“So, um... oh, yeah. We should probably get going,” he said as he checked the time. “We don’t want to miss out on the reservations.”
That caught you by surprise. No wonder he was dressed up. “Reservations?”
Sora grinned. “Yes, m’lady. At the best spot in town.”
Your journey to the restaurant where Sora made these fabled reservations was full of friendly chit-chat and small talk, all the while your date desperately tried to maintain his newfound vocabulary despite his true voice sneaking out every once in a while. When you arrived, the place was a lot fancier than you were expecting. As promised, you were both led to a reserved table. You most definitely felt underdressed for the occasion, but you also couldn’t shake the feeling that the environment was a bit foreign to your date as well.
After the both of you ordered, you were left alone, giving you time to resume your conversation. But something didn’t feel right. Sora would trip over his words, ramble on about things you were sure he had no idea what he was talking about, and did his best to maintain a high vocabulary even though he mispronounced some words more than a few times. He seemed to take bathroom breaks more times than you could count, leading you to believe Sora either had an incredibly small bladder or he was hiding something. You chose to go with the latter.
He returned from another one of his bathroom breaks and you caught him off-guard with your next words before he could even sit down.
“Is everything okay, Sora?”
“Huh?” Sora crossed his arms, pondering over the question. “What makes you ask that?”
“It’s just that you seem a little nervous,” you answered. “I just don’t want you to think you have to change yourself for my sake.”
“What?” Sora chuckled as he leaned against his chair. “I-I’m not nervous at all.”
As he said this, he nearly tripped over himself yet again but was able to catch himself in the nick of time. However, that wasn’t enough to stop an excessive amount of cards from fluttering out of his jacket pockets. You were about to ask him if he was okay again before you noticed the cards. You got out of your seat and bent down to retrieve one, reading the contents of more than a few.
Make sure to be a gentleman, always open doors and pull out chairs
Be knowledgeable! Intelligence can be extremely attractive. Besides, who wants to date a dummy?
Dress to impress! Don’t worry, I’ll help you out with this one
“What... is all of this?” you asked.
There had to be at least a dozen of those cards that looked as if they were cheat sheets to being a good date. It was just as you thought. Sora stood there frozen in place, as if taking a step would cause the universe to implode on itself. He opened his mouth but was quick to close it.
“Sora…” you said gently.
Sora let out a long-awaited sigh, dropping his head low. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, rubbing the back of his head. “It’s just… I’m really new to this whole dating thing. I don’t know much about the right things to say, or what I’m supposed to, but… I wanted to make sure you didn’t regret spending time with me.”
You stared at Sora for a while as he began gathering the cards while avoiding eye contact with you. You figured you might as well help him out.
“And... who wrote these cards?” you dared ask. If it were Riku, you were going to be convinced that this was a prank and you were sure to have words for him later.
“Selphie,” Sora answered shamefully. “She basically told me how to look and act. She even got this really expensive hair gel and I may or may not have one heck of a shower later on! But man, that girl really knows her stuff.”
Your amusement started as a light giggle, but it quickly evolved into full blown and barefaced laughter. Sora frowned at you as he crossed his arms.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
As your laughter settled, you sent him the warmest of smiles. “Sora, it was really sweet of you to go out of your way like this. But you really don’t need to try so hard. I’m sure I would’ve had fun either way.”
“Really?” Sora put on an embarrassed grin. “I guess I just didn’t want you to see me as some sort of kid or something.”
You shook your head. “I don’t. And even if I did, you should never change yourself to fit someone else’s standards. Just be who you are. I like you.”
Sora’s lips parted. “You do?” With a big smile, he fist pumped as if he claimed a victory. “All right! Guess I’m not a total screw up, after all.”
You found his reaction amusing. Perhaps he did have a bit of that childlike innocence to him. But it was nothing he should have felt embarrassed about in the first place. You liked this side of him and wanted to see more of it.
“Well, if you don’t mind, think you might wanna ditch this place?” Sora asked. “To be honest, this tuxedo is a bit uncomfortable for me. I don’t really wear them often.”
You chuckled. “Yeah, I figured.”
After Sora paid for the meal, the two of you made your exit and were greeted by the beaming sun.
“So, now what should we do?” you asked.
“Hmmmm,” Sora hummed, his arms folded. He seemed very concentrated before he was struck with inspiration. “Oh! Maybe we can go with my original idea for this date!”
You tilted your head in curiosity. “And what would that be?”
“Well… I actually wanted us to go check out that new amusement park that just opened up, but Selphie told me that wasn’t romantic enough for a first date,” Sora answered with hesitation. “We don’t have to go if it seems like a dumb idea.”
You were quick to shake your head. “That sounds like a lot of fun. I’d love to go.”
Sora looked as if he could hardly believe it. He gave you a gracious look, his usual heartwarming smile on his lips, as he extended his hand to you.
“Then let’s go!” he said. You returned the smile and allowed your palm to settle onto his. Riku was right about one thing. This was definitely an interesting experience.
But you had a feeling it might also end up being fun as well.