Connection

Sometimes you need to look past what's on the outside to really see someone.

Chapter One

The First Date

Boruto sat alone in the smoothie house, regretting his decision to come there in the first place. It was ridiculous really, more like a dare than anything else. Whatever it was though, it was all Shikadai's fault. After the latest of many failed relationships, he had forced Boruto into a corner, calling him on his shit and getting tired of hearing him complain. It wasn't like he was trying to break up in less than a month. Things just turned out that way.

He would see someone that fit his preferred body type and then get it on like no tomorrow. He had a knack for finding men that were compatible with his sex drive, but once they opened their mouths everything was ruined. He wanted a cocky as fuck, sexy as fuck guy that could handle him. What he kept getting were arrogant assholes that either wanted to 'change him for the better' or boss him around as if he didn't have a mind to think on his own.

That's what happened when you went for the tall, muscular and dominant kind of fellow. Good in bed, but a personality that made him want to punch their lights out. His luck was nonexistent and he couldn't understand why it always ended badly. That was until Shikadai was more than happy to explain. Apparently, he was obsessed with physical appearance, not giving the actual nice guys the time of day. He didn't bother getting to know them and went straight into bed with them.

While it was true the tiniest, smallest bit, Boruto wasn't interested in a 'nice guy'. He wanted the bad boy with a soft spot only for him. He wanted someone he could let his guard down around and be the spoiled boyfriend that he had locked up inside. A protector that would treat him like he was something special, someone he wanted to come home to. And fuck. Fucking was important.

Long story short, Shikadai told him he wouldn't last trying for a real relationship. Of course Boruto took offense to that, telling the bastard that he would go to hell and back to find the man for him. Thus leading to his current predicament. Boruto wasn't allowed to so much as kiss the guy he was going on this date with and he didn't even know who it was. He had been pushed into a blind date, literally. He was fucking blindfolded and he couldn't take it off, sitting in some private booth waiting to meet some stranger.

What if he wasn't his type? What if he was the complete opposite and totally not fuckable? The only thing he knew was what to call his so-called date: K. Shikadai was really going all out to prove his point, giving Boruto no information at all. It wasn't going to work out and he was going to end up with some short office guy. He was regretting agreeing to this, but there was no way in hell he was going to back down.

…

This would be the first date Kawaki had ever been on in his life. He never tried to date, ever. It was annoying, too much of a bother for him when he could just get a piece of ass when he wanted it and go about his business. He never really wanted a relationship and he didn't mind being alone, but his best friend Iwabe seemed to think it was a problem.

Iwabe was adamant, arguing Kawaki down about his trust issues and all of his other problems. He wasn't one to give in or one to do anything he didn't want to do, but he'd be damned if Iwabe was going to think he couldn't do something. He wanted to bet everything that Kawaki couldn't take on this challenge Iwabe and his friend had come up with, and Kawaki wouldn't refuse even if it killed him.

Whoever he was being set up with was probably fucking hideous and worse, a pain in the ass to be around. Just the thought of having to talk to them for more than a couple minutes was repulsing. Kawaki had a type and preferences for what he sought in a guy, he had to look the part and act it, but talking was never involved. Now that was all he had.

He wouldn't be able to look at this guy and he knew nothing at all about him. He was probably some slob who didn't take care of himself at all—a total turn off for Kawaki. He wanted someone clean and fit and small. He wanted someone who turned him on just by the way they looked, and by the way they took him. It was hard enough to find the right guy to fuck, but just thinking of finding one he could actually enjoy a date with was giving him a headache.

Iwabe rattled on about rules after Kawaki agreed to the challenge. He couldn't ask the guy anything about his looks and he couldn't ask for his name either. He was told to call him B and nothing more. Iwabe was too cheeky when they arrived outside of the smoothie shop and he tied the blindfold around Kawaki's eyes. He told him to play nice and enjoy himself and though he didn't know how that would go, Kawaki would try to be on his best behavior.

He was helped inside by his annoying friend and led to a booth. Iwabe had already said his goodbyes, explaining that B was already waiting at the table. Once Kawaki sat down and heard Iwabe take his leave, he sighed. This was going to be the most awkward day of his life. And what was worst of all, he was supposed to make it not through just this one date, but a series of them with this guy.

"Well, you sound as enthused as I feel." B mused, his voice more feminine than Kawaki thought it would be. "I guess you're K, right?"

"Apparently." Kawaki breathed, finding himself curious about the voice across from him. He sounded young. "And you're B."

"Y-Yeah." He stammered before clearing his throat, taken aback by the deep voice. "So . . . how'd you end up in this situation?"

"All because my friend suspects that I can't date just because I prefer not to." Kawaki admitted honestly as he laid his arms on the table. "What about you?"

"Same, kind of. My friend thinks I'm shallow and can't date because I'm interested in the wrong things." He said, crossing his arms. "He'll be eating his words when I show his ass I can make it through these dates."

Kawaki chuckled at that. "At least we're both determined to see this through." He said, fairly certain he would make it if the guy was trying to cooperate.

"Yeah, we'll show them both." B said confidently. "But I gotta say, this location is random as hell. And no one has come over to ask if I wanted anything yet." He huffed.

"Well, that's bullshit. Not that I would know what to ask for. I've never had a smoothie before. Is that something you like?" Kawaki asked thoughtfully, finding himself amused at the guy's personality.

"I love them." B confessed, getting a little excited. "I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but if it's dairy then I need it in my life. You really never had one before? Do you wanna try one or are they not your thing?"

"If they're sweet, I'll have a taste. I actually love sweet shit. On occasion." Kawaki smiled to himself.

B smiled as well, finding the little fact interesting. "In that case, let's get some service over here. Excuse me, I'd like a smoothie!"

Kawaki swallowed a laugh and rested his cheek in his hand as he waited for a server to come over. They were probably too afraid to come to a table where a couple blindfolded guys were sitting.

"Order me something with strawberries." He told his date, considering he didn't know what they had.

"Alright." B agreed without so much as a second thought. He went with a mix of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry all together and ordered the same for Kawaki. With strawberries on top of course. "There, that wasn't so hard. I don't understand why no one approached me sooner."

"Me either, shit." Kawaki smirked as if the reason wasn't obvious. "I hope the next place is somewhere with better service."

B was surprised that he was actually looking forward to the next meeting. "Me too. It's not like I'm scary or anything, there shouldn't be a problem."

It wouldn't be hard-pressed of Kawaki to assume his date was blond as fuck, and he did. "The blindfolds are probably a bit curious. Whoever can see us are more than likely too busy trying to figure out what we're up to, to worry about serving us."

"Ah . . ." B hadn't thought about that. "Well . . . it's none of their business."

Kawaki hummed in agreement just as the server returned with their smoothies, setting them on the table and then excusing themselves. At least it hadn't taken long to get their order, but finding it without tipping it over wasn't going to be easy.

B was thinking along the same line. "Time to play where the fuck is the cup."

"Hell yeah. Without knocking it over." Kawaki grinned.

"You sound like you're enjoying this." B observed with a growing smile. "It won't be as fun when I knock yours over."

"You better not. At least let me get a taste of it first." He said as he felt around in front of him for his cup, his date doing the same. Kawaki's hand found B's instead of his cup and he felt it in wonder. It was small. This guy had to be small. Maybe he was in luck.

B was frozen still as the much larger hand swept over his own, having no problem with getting handsy. "I think this might count as cheating, just a little . . . but I won't say anything if you won't."

"Cheating?" Kawaki scoffed. "Nobody said I couldn't touch you. Shit. Go ahead and forget that rule."

Kawaki's personality was getting better and better, there was no way he was an office guy. "Consider it forgotten." B giggled and threaded their fingers together.

"How old are you?" Kawaki asked, needing to make sure he wasn't robbing a cradle.

"I'm twenty-six. And you?" B asked, needing to make sure his mature voice didn't mean aged considerably.

"Twenty-eight." He answered, slightly surprised at B's age. "I'm so curious . . ."

"About?" B questioned, having a good idea already along with the same curiosity.

"What you look like. At least you sound cute as fuck so I can imagine."

B blushed at the compliment, no one had ever said that about his voice before. "I want to know too. What the man with the sexy voice looks like."

Kawaki chuckled yet again, rather enjoying his time with B. "You couldn't handle it."

"Neither could you." B countered, biting his lip. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

Locating one of the smoothies with his free hand, Kawaki moved B's hand to it before pulling his hand away to find his own. "We will find out soon enough. First, I have to taste this." He said before raising the cup and closing his mouth around the straw. It was much better than he anticipated. "Damn, it's good."

"Right?" B said cheekily, pulling his cup closer to him. He leaned down to take the straw between his lips but ended up poking himself in the cheek. "Ow. These blindfolds are really getting on my nerves."

"Missed your mouth?" Kawaki asked teasingly.

"It's hard to aim when you can't see shit." B complained and tried again, this time using his other hand to guide the straw. "Hmm. Much better."

"You got it?" He asked, amused. "I thought I was going to have to help you."

B felt a tingle run down his spine. "Now you tell me. I need to know these things sooner, K."

"My bad, I wasn't thinking." Kawaki hummed. "Now you know, I don't need to see to find your mouth."

"Fuck." B breathed, not noticing he said it out loud. "That's a great skill to have."

"Mm. Just one of many."

B wanted to know them all. "I'm listening."

…

The date had done a lot better than Boruto thought it would have. They talked and flirted for a while longer until their friends came to collect them. He tried to play it off in front of Shikadai and K's friend, but he was in a really good mood. He would never admit it, but this whole thing with K looked promising. The man was easy to talk to and his voice was deeper than the ocean, fuck. He had never heard anything so sensual.

Then there were those big hands of his. It didn't take too much imagination for Boruto to picture those hands running all over his body. If only he could see K, find out if he was his type. Of course he hoped that was the case, but he couldn't be a hundred percent sure. Large hands didn't mean he was tall and a voice that could make Boruto melt didn't mean he was hot. That was the only frustrating part. He needed to know what K looked like, it would seriously be a damn shame if he was ugly.

Shikadai tried to grill him in the car about how it went, but the only thing he was concerned about was taking off the blindfold. "Is this shit really necessary?" Boruto whined once he was allowed to get rid of it.

"What do you mean is it necessary? It's the whole point, Boruto." Shikadai told him, eyes fixed on the road. "Why do you sound so annoyed, huh? Did it go that well?"

"No." He quickly lied. "The service was horrible and I couldn't see to pick up my smoothies and K was tricked into the whole thing just like I was."

Shikadai laughed. "Uh huh, that's not what I was after though. How was it with K? You like him?"

Boruto shrugged, not wanting to give anything away. "He's alright. Not boring at least."

"That's good." He said simply.

Truth be told, Boruto wanted to do some grilling himself. He wanted his friend to tell him if K was as sexy as he seemed, but he knew he wouldn't. If Boruto so much as looked like he was going to ask about his physical appearance then Shikadai would go on a rant about how he hadn't even made it past date one. That couldn't be allowed to happen and he would just have to endure. After Shikadai dropped him off at his flat, he went upstairs and flopped on the couch.

He tucked his hand to his chest with a small smile on his face. He could still feel it, K's hand holding his own. It really had gone well and K was so interesting too, Boruto found himself wanting to know more about the faceless man. It was funny . . . Boruto had never anticipated a second date with anyone . . . why was this so different? He thought about it, but couldn't put his finger on the reason. Maybe it was because he was eager to get through the dates and onto the good part. Fucking.

…

The only thing Kawaki had concluded after his date with B was that he had to be cute. His soft voice and the way he spoke were adorable, leaving Kawaki smiling throughout the entire ordeal. He'd never given anyone this chance before, so maybe it was just nice to talk to someone and the situation was just ridiculous anyway. He did have a good time though and he was looking forward to date number two.

If only Iwabe wouldn't ride his ass about it.

"You telling me you actually talked?" Iwabe was shocked, blinking at his best friend who was busy making himself a drink.

"The whole time. I'm more than capable of talking, I just don't." Kawaki told him, giving him an unimpressed look.

Iwabe rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Or maybe it was just that you liked B."

"How would I do that without seeing him? I talked because I can and you need to realize it."

"I'm not willing to believe it." Iwabe grumbled. "That you could sit there and not bark orders or fuck a guy you were around for that long."

"Well believe it. There were no orders and no fucking." Kawaki retorted and then had a sip of his drink. "When's the next date so I can not order or fuck him again?"

"Not sure, haven't figured it out yet."

"Well, I can't wait." Kawaki grinned, glad he'd agreed to this challenge after all. No matter what, he would not fail.

B was entertaining at least and even if somehow he wasn't cute, Kawaki could pretend. It was up to his imagination after all and he knew he'd be able to see to each and every one of the twenty dates. This was going to be a fun challenge for him indeed.

A/N:

Hello dear readers!

So excited to be sharing one of many collaborative kawaboru stories that I've co-written with Kaname84 (there are others on their profile that you may check out if you wish!)

We hope you guys will enjoy this story as much as we love writing it.

Please leave us a review and tell us what you think, we'd appreciate it so much.

Thanks for reading Connection!