Category: Romantic Fluff

Characters: Kiba Inuzuka and Female OC

Akari glanced down at her phone with pursed lips, then glanced up at the door worriedly. Where is he? She thought as she craned her neck to scan the faces of the passersby, but none of them were the face of her long-time boyfriend. She looked back down at her string of text messages with no reply. Did something happen? She thought anxiously as she hit the "call" button and raised the phone to her ear and waited for him to pick up on the other line. She gasped lightly when it was not he that answered, but his answering machine. Could he be ignoring me? She thought as she pulled the phone back, staring at it as a sudden realization struck her.

"Did he… stand me up?" she whispered as tears rose to the corners of her eyes. She slunk down in her seat miserably as she locked her phone and set it on the table, trying to keep herself together as the waiter strolled up to her and set down the bottle of wine she had ordered fifteen minutes ago. What was his name again? Kiba? She thought as she looked up at him. He had messy brown hair and a slightly feral look, and a tiny voice in the back of her head uttered, Wow. He's attractive. He glanced down at the empty seat, then smiled gently at her.

"Will you be expecting the other member of your party soon?" he asked gently, and Akari felt her bottom lip quiver as she reached forward to grab the bottle of wine by the neck.

"No. I don't think so," she answered tersely and popped the bottle open, pouring a healthy amount of wine into the glass before setting it back down. She raised the wine glass to her lips, but didn't realize that her hand had begun to shake from a mixture of anger and despair, and she gasped as she dropped the wine glass and it shattered all over the table. The white tablecloth abruptly turned red- as did the waiter's nice white dress shirt. "Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry!" she cried and jumped to her feet, knocking the wine bottle over and spilling even more wine over the table and him. "Ah! Oh, no, no, I'm so sorry!" she wailed in embarrassment and covered her face with her hands.

"Hey, it's okay," Kiba smiled at her, and she had to give him credit for nor growing angry with her. She was already highly emotional, and the mortifying incident pushed her over the edge; so, she began to cry miserably. "Ah! Really! It's no big deal! It happens a lot more than you think!" he cried and waved his arms frantically. She shook her head as she sniffled sadly, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands.

"No, it's not that," she moped as she plopped down into the chair and motioned to the phone that had somehow survived the wine spill. "My boyfriend stood me up," she sighed deeply and leaned her cheek in her hand. "I've been dating him for a long time now, and I thought things were going so well…" she sniffled as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. "Then I spilled wine all over your nice tablecloth and your nice shirt, a-and… n-now I'm a m-mess!" she sobbed and buried her face into her hands once more. She was acutely aware of the waiter standing awkwardly beside her, soaked in wine and probably judging her.

"…Miss?" he asked her suddenly, and she peered through her fingers to see him smiling gently down at her. She lowered her hands to stare up at him through teary eyes, and he laughed nervously before shuffling his feet and slowly eased himself down into the chair across from her. "I don't think you're a mess," he smiled at her, and she blinked as he reached out to grasp her hand. He hesitated for a moment, but when she did not retreat, Kiba smiled wider and gently grasped her hand. "You're just upset, that's all. Of course you're going to be upset that your boyfriend stood you up," he consoled her. He then laughed under his breath, looking down at his lap in embarrassment.

"What?" she asked curiously. He's still holding my hand… she thought with a light blush, then jerked up slightly when he looked back up at her.

"I just… I can't imagine why someone would stand up such a beautiful girl like you," he admitted shyly. Her heart rate skyrocketed, and she smiled bashfully, and now it was her turn to look down at her lap. "Look, I know that you're technically still dating this guy and you're not exactly in the best place right now…" he started, "but, I get off in about fifteen minutes, so, if you would like… I can take you out on a date instead?" he offered hopefully. Akari looked down at her phone, then back up at him.

"Yeah. Yeah, I would like that a lot, Kiba," she smiled at him. He blushed and laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully.

"I can't believe that I asked you out and I don't know your name," he grinned in mild embarrassment. He is so cute! She thought with a giggle.

"It's Akari," she told him.

"Akari? What a beautiful name," he smiled at her, and that smile sent her heart beating furiously against her ribcage. My heart hasn't beat like this… Since, well… even before I was dating him, she thought with a smile. He patted her hand and rose from the chair, and looked down at his stained shirt.

"I'm so sorry about your shirt," she sighed deeply, putting a hand over her mouth in mortification. "And… The tablecloth…" she added with an anxious laugh.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I have a spare shirt and Lord knows we have plenty of spare tablecloths," he laughed and rubbed the back of his neck shyly, shuffling his feet some more. "Eh heh, I should probably change shirts and finish my job!" he added as a man walked out onto the restaurant floor and gave him a stern look. He gave her an awkward wave before quickly retreating to the back of the restaurant. She smiled to herself and picked up her phone, her eyebrows raising when a message notification blinked. She stared at it for a minute, then smiled wider and turned off her phone completely. A few minutes later, Kiba came trotting back with a clean shirt and a grin on his face, offering her an arm. "Ready to go?" he asked her chivalrously.

"Yeah!" she nodded eagerly as she tucked her phone into her purse and rose from her chair to take his arm. He smiled down at her, making her heart flutter and heat rise to her face.

I can't believe getting stood up led me to a great guy like this! She thought, and in a moment of brazenness, she leaned against him slightly, and her heart went pit-a-pat as he casually slid his arm around her shoulder. She looked up at Kiba, smiling, and suddenly got the strangest feeling that she was going to be much happier with him than she ever could have been with her old boyfriend as they walked out into the night.

"So, you want me to kick this guy's ass?" Kiba asked suddenly, and the street rang with her laughter at the abrupt question.

"No, no, that's not necessary. Appreciated, but not necessary," she snickered and leaned her head against his shoulder with a laugh. He pulled her a little closer, making her heart pound even more furiously. That's not necessary, because I'm already over him, she thought happily. Perhaps that made her a horrible person, but she didn't care, because she was being escorted down the sidewalk by a handsome guy who had cheered her up after a dismal night. Thank you for coming into my life, Kiba. I hope you can stay in it, she thought as she glanced up at him, and when he glanced down at her with a smile, she thought that maybe he would.