How They Met (And Other Calamities)

Chapter 1: Sora/Kairi

The Real Story: (Submitted by Willow Eloise on Facebook) My sister met her husband at a bus stop. He went up to her and said "Hey... I've got your name tattooed on my arm". My sister fell for it and said "Really? Mine's a strange name though, prove it." He lifted his sleeve to show a tattoo that literally said 'your name'.

Sora Hikari did not ask out girls.

It wasn't that he never liked a girl. Throughout his 19 years of life, he had had many a crush. But he knew he was an awkward goof and any girl in her right mind would look at his flustered expression and out of control spiky hair and say no.

He had gone on dates, back in high school. But they were all either for school dances where his best friend of 12 years named Roxas set him up with someone, or where the girl had asked him out via Roxas (which even then, only happened once). Both involved no uncomfortable conversations where he had to be there. Roxas would simply say to one of his many female friends that his best friend needed a date to a dance, and while he denied that the girls saying yes had anything to do with him, Sora knew that most of them wanted to get closer to their real crush, Roxas.

Dating in high school was pointless anyway, right? It's just a haze of awkward hand holding, an occasional picture posted on Facebook, and the inevitable "OMG, did you hear that _ and _ broke up?!" Everyone in his various schools had gone through significant others like they went through phones: excitedly showing it off, playing around with it for a while, then trading it in for a better, newer version.

When Sora drove five hundred miles away to college, he couldn't decide if he thought things would change. Would this new place transform him into a new person, or would he stay the same awkward, shy guy? But besides the venue, nothing had improved. Roxas was still the campus's most eligible bachelor, while he was "the hot guy's weird cousin or something", according to a girl who he heard talking to her friends at the next table over.

Oh well. He was used to it.

One of the many downsides to being shy when it came to girls was that his friends always knew just how to tease him. Every single time he chose Dare when playing Truth or Dare in both middle and high school, it was the same one: "Ask out (insert name here)!" This led to it becoming a very boring game, and him being a "bad sport". It wasn't that he didn't want to; it was that his anxiety wouldn't let him.

But the dares didn't stop. He hated them all, obviously.

Except for the very last one.

It was in his first year of college. He and Roxas drove to the college together in Roxas' car, and rented a small apartment just outside of campus. Most of the time, they switched on and off using the car, but occasionally, Sora was left stranded. While he enjoyed walking, not everything was within the 3 miles he was willing to go. Thankfully, since it was a college town and they recognized that not everyone had a car, the city had bus stops on nearly every corner.

It was a rainy May day, and Roxas' car was in the shop. He and Sora stood huddled in the corner under the small shelter the bus stop provided, quizzing each other over their one shared class's quiz questions. It was all fine and dandy, till Roxas glanced over with a grin on his face.

"We're learning about some guy getting his head chopped off. Why are you laughing?" Sora asked.

Roxas turned back towards him with a sly smirk. "Wanna make a bet?"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Depends what it is."

Roxas grinned again. "If you get this next question right, I'll let you use the car when it gets out of the shop whenever you want to for an entire week. If you get it wrong, you have to ask that girl out over there in a way that will be determined by me."

The brunet looked over at the girl in question. She was beautiful, which was probably why Roxas chose her over the other three people standing at the bus stop. Her straight burgundy hair was partially covered by a blue beanie that matched her eyes, which were so bright that he could tell the color from 10 feet away. She had headphones on and was tapping her foot to the beat of the music. Thankfully, Sora had never seen her before, unlike most of the girls he had been dared to ask out. So when she said no, it wouldn't be as embarrassing.

He sighed. After all, he would have had to do something like this eventually. Why not let it be a girl at a bus stop who he would probably never see again?

"Fine."

Roxas pumped his fist. "Yesss! Finally! After all these years!"

"Oh, just get on with it. What's the question?" Sora sighed.

Roxas looked down at one of the sheets of paper in his hand. "What is the capital of Swaziland?"

Sora blinked. "Um, what?"

"The. Capital. Of. Swaziland."

"We're in history, not geography!" Sora exclaimed.

Roxas couldn't hold in his laughter. "I know. But I said the next question. I never said it would be related to what we were studying."

"You're such a jerk."

"I know," Roxas grinned. "So, what's the answer?"

"I don't know! What kind of name is Swaziland, anyway? Um…Sweziground?" Sora guessed.

"Sweziground? Seriously? No. There's actually two, Lobamba and Mbabane," the blond explained.

"First off, it sounds like you just sneezed. Second off, that was so not fair!"

"Oh, yes it was. Now, just let me think of a way for you to ask that girl out." Roxas crossed his arms and looked off into the distance. "Hmm…"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Hurry up, unless you're waiting till next year."

"Ha! I got it!" Roxas fumbled around in his bag before pulling out a pen. "Write 'your name' on your upper arm. Then go over to her and say "Hey, I've got your name tattooed on my arm." When she asks to see it, pull up your sleeve and show her your "tattoo", then ask her out. I'm telling you, if this doesn't work, nothing will."

"…" Sora was at a loss for words. This had to be a joke, right? But he had to get this over with one day; why not now? "Fine. A bet is a bet." He hurriedly scribbled the words on his left arm and nervously walked the few feet over to the girl, fingernails digging into his palm.

"Um…hi."

She looked away from the rain back towards him, pulling out her earbuds. "Hi there," she said, her smile showing a trace of confusion.

"Um…I've got your name tattooed on my arm," he managed to choke out, trying not to look at her beautiful blue eyes. Why did he agree to do this? Especially to a really pretty girl? It was going to be even more embarrassing when she said no!

She raised her eyebrows in obvious skepticism. "Oh, really? My name is pretty unusual. Prove it."

Sora pulled up his sleeve to reveal the words "your name" written in black ink, and glared at Roxas, who he could see collapsing in laughter from behind the girl. This was utterly humiliating.

He looked back at the redhead to see her laughing. "Well, you're not lying," she giggled. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding as she reached out her hand. "Though I can tell it's a ballpoint pen, thankfully, based on the smears. Well done, sir. I'm Kairi."

And before he even realized what was happening, she was writing down her number and pushing it into his hand with a wink and the words "Call me", before she boarded the bus that had apparently arrived without him noticing.

Roxas walked over to him, mouth open in shock. "I gotta tell you, I didn't honestly think that would work."

"You know, normally I would punch you, but she's probably watching from the window. Plus, IT ACTUALLY WORKED." Sora's face was all smiles and shock and how did that even work and as he boarded the full bus, he hoped he would get a seat by her.

He did.

They went out to dinner that night.

Hurrah, a new series! Yes, these will all be real stories that happened to people. If you would like to submit your own story, whether it be your parent's, your best friend's, or your sister's, feel free to leave it in a review, pm it, or send it to me on Twitter or Facebook (links in my bio!).

Just so you know: These will most likely all be one of three couples: Sokai, Rokunami, or Rikushi. Maybe a few Rikunami, since I love them so, but so far, the stories that have been submitted to me just happened to fall into those three couples. xD Plus, they're the ones I can write best.

If you enjoyed this story, or want to read more, please follow, favorite, and review! The more I get, the faster I work.

-Audrey

Oh yeah, random author fact #2: While I do have a smartphone, I am currently using a flip phone from 1998.

EDIT: Apparently there is a book by a man named David Leviathan with a similar name and premise. I have never heard of it until now, and have not read it. If any of the ideas are similar, it is complete coincidence.