Tick. Tock.
You blink.
Tick. Tock.
You blink again.
Tick. Tock.
You couldn't stop fidgeting during History class. Tonight you and Kaku would be going on a date. A DATE!
Oh my gosh, I have a horrible feeling in my gut... You whimper and mentally throw yourself out of the building for agreeing to something as unnecessary as...a date.
You couldn't help but think of Sabo. You were worried about him. He was different yesterday after you woke up. It made you concerned, which surprised you since you normally wouldn't care.
"Sabo..." You mutter his name under your breath.
-flashback-
"Sabo, are you alright?" You inquire the blonde. He was suspiciously quiet ever since you woke up.
Did something happen while you were out cold?
"Yeah, I'm fine," He mumbles, almost to himself. You grew more anxious and cup his cheek, it felt warmer than usual. The unexpected touch made him flinch and grab your hand.
"S-Sabo?" You peer into his face warily. His hand gripped yours tightly making you wince from the pain before he instantly releases.
"Sorry..." He whispers, his head lowered and raises his hand to touch your face.
What's wrong with him?
His knuckles brush against your cheek, his eyes glanced up at you to watch for a negative reaction, then he trails his fingers down to your mouth and traces your lower lip with his thumb.
What happened to him?
He slowly leans over to your face, eyeing for your lips, and presses his forehead against yours. "Let's go join the others." He murmurs, his eyes turned back to normal as he flashes you a smile.
"Okay?" You breathe, feeling a swift and light press against your nose, you squeak in surprise. "S-SABO!!!"
"Heh, gotcha," Sabo chuckles and dashes for the door.
You blink, trying to register in your head of the fact that he just kissed your nose. You poke it and blush. "Weird guy..." You sigh.
Despite the fact that they were all against the idea, your girl friends gave you some tips about what to do and what not to do on a date. You scratch your head at all the listed things you had to remember. Dates sure are a big deal.
From across the table was Sabo, eating his dinner without a single word. He would glance up at you from time to time and flash you a kind smile before returning back to his meal.
You frown at the fact that he decided to sit away from you. It sort of made you feel disappointed and...something else. It felt like an empty void growing in your chest.
"Hey! (Name) are you even listening?" Nami slams her hand on the table. "If you're going to have your very first date then you gotta be prepared!"
You grumble dejectedly. "Can't I just be myself?"
"That depends." All the girls reply in unison. You sweat drop, looking to Sabo and Ace for help.
Ace was giving you a cheeky smile, his head propped up with his hand, "I think she should be herself. She's fine the way she is, right, Sabo?" He nudges the blonde beside him.
"Yeah, she's perfect the way she is," Sabo narrows his gaze at you admiringly. "If he can't deal with perfection then too bad." He chuckles lightly, earning a blush from you and an awed stare from everyone else.
"When did Sabo become—not Sabo?" Koala whispers to Ace.
"No idea," Ace snickered, watching your flustered state and stammering protests about how you were clearly far from perfection, "I think it's a good change though."
-end of flashback-
I wish I have never been born... You sigh in defeat, slumping into your chair as Ms. Nico rambles on about Alabsta's history.
A familiar low chuckle echoes in your mind.
"First date jitters?" The voice inquires, silently laughing at your uneasiness.
"You better not screw this up for me."
"Now why would I do that?" He asks, feigning shock and hurt before a smirk came to his lips. "Bah, who am I kidding. You know me too well."
"Damn straight," You mentally stick out your tongue at him, which made him laugh hysterically.
"You're always so fun to tease (Name)."
"Shut up. I hate you."
"That's just mean," The voice sighs. Something in his tone made you feel bad about saying that. "After all I've done for you?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," You mumble depressingly. Taking out a notebook, you started drawing scribbles and circles to pretend that you were taking down notes.
The voice hummed in response. "Actually, you did. But I won't hold it against you (Name)."
A pang of hurt struck your chest like a heavy weight. Tears threatened to pour out but you rapidly blink them away.
"I'm sorry I said that...I really am...Please, don't leave, Aze." You beg.
The voice frowns at your tone."I know you are," He rumbles, a soft pair of (E/C) eyes gaze at you from inside your mind. "I'll never leave you. I couldn't even if I wanted to."
You smile, knowing that this was technically true, "I wish you were here with me." You cross your arms on your desk and bury your face to hide the tears that were now streaking down your cheeks. "Azazel, I wish you were here with me..."
The color of the sky changed from blue to orange with a tinge of purple and pink mixed in. The clouds followed the sun as it descended down the horizon. You would have enjoyed the sunset if you weren't in such a hurry.
"Here, wear this," Koala says, grabbing you by the arm and twirling you to face her, then places a beautiful silver charm bracelet on your wrist.
"Wow, Koa, that looks so beautiful!" You breathe, eyeing the silver accessory and the wonderfully detailed academy dormitory charm. "Was this customized?"
She nods enthusiastically and shows you a similar charm bracelet on her wrist with the same charm. "The dorm charm is how we met." She giggles. "Now, go on! You'll be late!"
She pushes you out the door and drags you by the hand to your meeting place with Kaku.
"Do I look alright? Maybe I need less make-up. I should remove some. Oh wait, maybe my hair is sticking out? Umm—" You frantically look around the hallway for a mirror.
Koala rolls her eyes at you and smirks. "You look absolutely adorable, (Name)! Although I wish you went with someone else..." She mumbles the last part.
"What did you say?"
"No, nothing," She laughs. You throw her a confused look.
A guy wearing a hat and high-collared orange shirt catches your eye as you left the building. His arms were crossed on his chest and he was leaning against the wall as if he was waiting for someone. "Kaku?" You guess.
The man looks up and sees you, he smiles. "Oh, (Name), you look absolutely stunning!"
You blush and glance at Koala, who was still unhappy and clearly doesn't ship this. "Thanks," You giggle. He offers you a hand and you blink before taking it. "Let's go then!" He chimes, pulling you away from the dorm, away from The Academy, and towards the brightly lit city of Water 7.
You have to admit: you enjoyed Kaku's company.
He was exuberant, honest, and downright positive about almost everything. His smile never faltered during the entire night you were with him. It almost made you question whether or not he ever got cheek cramps, but you didn't want to ask and ruin the moment.
You both went into a cafe and Kaku bought two of your favorite dessert, one for him and one for you, as well as some drinks.
He talked about his life as an engineering student until he was targeted by the World Government and had to stop school because of them chasing him around. In return, you told him about your personal life, how your parents worked abroad and left you under the supervision of Smoker, a close family friend, because you couldn't be around a lot of people.
You even shared some embarrassing stories from your childhood. It was humiliating back then but it was a good story to laugh at now. After finishing your sweets, you left the cafe and headed to the higher levels of the city.
"So, you can turn into a giraffe?" You ask, biting down on a sandwich.
Both of you were having a dinner picnic on one of the rooftops of Water 7's tallest buildings. The starry night sky looked within inches from your reach. You sat down on the picnic cloth that he had laid out for the two of you and he laid down next to you with his head propped up by his hand.
Kaku blinked at your question. "Yes."
"A giraffe?" You ask again, slowly so that you were sure that you were saying the right word.
He chuckles, shaking his head, "Again, yes."
A slow smile crept to your lips and your eyes sparkled with interest. "Can I...pet you in giraffe form?"
Kaku held back his urge to burst out laughing.
In all his years, this had to be the strangest request he ever received from a girl. However he nods, deciding that it couldn't hurt since he didn't want to disappoint you.
"Alrighty then," He huffs, stretching his arms over his head as he starts to grow taller, longer, and sport several brown spots on his body. His horns grew out, making his cap fall off, and you could catch a glimpse of large twitching ears and a long purple tongue.
You gape at the towering creature before you. "This is so awesome." You breathe.
There stood Kaku...as a giraffe. A freaking GIRAFFE.
"The Sea Devil must have been absolutely hammered when he implanted on that guy..." Aze deadpans.
"Shush Azazel. You're just jealous of his coolness!" You retort at the voice, still watching Kaku.
"How is being a giraffe cool?!"
"Never underestimate giraffes, Aze. Never." You reply in a very serious tone.
Kaku leans his (incredibly) long neck down to get eye level with you. You felt yourself giddy with excitement and cup his large head with both hands and start nuzzling him. "SOOOoooo—AWESOME!!"
"Well that's a first." Kaku laughs, nuzzling you back, which only made you squeal in happiness and wrap your arms around his neck.
He freezes momentarily as you clasp on to him, listening to you mumbling something about how giraffes were badass and under appreciated. He chuckles softly and slowly transforms back into human form, with you still embracing his neck.
His arms wrap around your waist and he pulls you closer to him. You slowly close your eyes and let his warmth linger for a while longer. He rests his head on top of yours and smiles. "You sure are different from other girls, (Name)."
"Sorry," You mumble, frowning a bit then buried your face in his chest out of embarrassment.
"No, no, it's a good kind of different." He chuckles. You could feel the vibrations of his laugh as you continue to hide your pink tinted cheeks.
Vivi's voice then echoed in your mind. "What if they kiss?!"
You blink, shifting nervously in his embrace. "Kaku?"
"Hm?" He hummed, releasing his hold a bit and looked down at your nervous expression. "Something wrong?"
You could feel your face steaming with embarrassment. No, no way. I can't. Kaku probably wouldn't want to anyway. I'll just be humiliating myself! You groan inwardly and mentally slapping yourself for even thinking of it.
"(Name)?" Kaku's breath brushed against your cheeks. When did he—? His face was dangerously near yours, he tilted his head just a bit to the side and leaned forward, eyeing your lips, then—
*POke*
"GAH! FAHK!" You screamed.
Kaku pulled back and looked at you mortified. You covered your eye with a hand and were crouching down on the ground like you were just kicked in the gut. "I've been SHOT!" Tears were streaming down your injured eye and you glared at Kaku.
He frowns, poking his nose, "Maybe I need a nose job..."
———————————-
(A/N)
Thanks to @Pirate_Queen's comment, I decided to change the ending. I thought of different ways of how to get Kaku to kiss you on the lips but I was like "That stupid nose is in the way, how does he even plank for fuck's sake?!"
If Koala were there, she'd grab his nose like how Nami grabs Usopp's nose.
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