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Hayner didn’t get to have other worldly adventures among the stars like some kids. Kids like Sora. Hayner didn’t get to have a weapon with a legacy as powerful and as interesting as a Keyblade to wield with wisdom and courage. Like Sora . He didn’t get to save his friends from creatures of the dark, save the girl of his dreams, and be proclaimed a hero. Like Sora.
Hayer stopped mid-strut, laced his fingers together and stretched out his neck. The warm evening sun warmed his back as he walked up the alley towards the Usual Spot.
Pence and Olette were working on some homework and agreed to meet up with him later, which meant a round of practicing darts and reading comic books Pence had read a hundred times over. Hayner glanced out the corner of his eye, seeing a stick resting on the brick floor.
The sight of the wood almost calling to him. To take it up and wield it like a weapon. Hayner rolled his eyes, ignoring the adolescent call to adventure.
That kind of life wasn’t in the cards for Hayner. Hayner got to have summers with his friends eating ice cream and playing Struggle, his school years are saddled with pointless homework and annoying loud kids, and a jerk and his goons who bully him and his lamer friends for seemingly no reason other than they just could.
Hayner would have his issues paying attention in class and often had to be told to think about his future and that he has to work for what he wants. And he had to be ok with that being his life.
After all, if he was supposed to live a life of adventure, he would. Right? Maybe the Keyblade would have come to him if he just was supposed to have it.
He was fine with his lot in life until he met Sora. Who got to have the amazing adventures amongst the stars. Who got to fight malevolent creatures with a super cool weapon. Who got to save the girl. A pretty girl.
A girl with auburn hair that reminded him of autumn leaves. A smile that made his chest feel funny and made his voice try to sound a little lower to sound more manly. Her eyes were as blue as ocean water, so captivating that he wanted to just swim in her stare for hours.
Ok, he kinda likes Kairi. Probably more than a like, he probably imagines now that he really thinks about it. He kicks up a foot in mild irritation and continues to trudge along his way. He walked into the Usual Spot ready to be disappointed for the next few hours until he could see his friends again.
“Hey, Hayner.” Her voice sung, the boy enjoyed too much the way she sounded saying his name. It was a song he could get used to way too fast. His blood ran cold and his heart stopped when he recognized her voice.
“Hey-” He croaked out. She showed up out of the blue without the legendary Keyblade wielder at her side. At least she did, as far as he could tell. It interested him to no end. For someone who Sora scoured the universe for, it made sense that they were hardly ever seen without the other. Hayner waved hesitantly, still wondering if she was actually there. Eyes glancing around looking for Sora. “ Kairi. How are you?”
Sora had shown up a few times since he had left to go deal with the Organization to just clean up what was left of the lingering Heartless and Nobodies in Twilight Town, with a silver haired boy who Hayner couldn’t recall the name of every so often. He thinks their name started with an R? Maybe a K? He forgot.
But Kairi showed up with that smile of hers and sitting in his gang’s Usual Spot and… well that was just surprising. She never just showed up before. Especially not without Sora at her side.
He remembers spending a lot of time dwelling on what exactly happened to her after Sora and his group of friends entered the machine’s pad and were sent off to parts unknown to find Kairi.
He didn’t know they had found each other until Sora came to Twilight Town with Kairi weeks later. With Sora going to deal with a troop of Heartless out in the forest and Kairi getting some girl time with Olette. Hayner didn’t want to spend his afternoon painting fingernails, even if he would let Kairi apply eyeliner to him and style his hair if she asked him.
There she was now, all by her lonesome. Sitting on Pence’s old couch like she had been there a thousand times before. Her feet tucked under her, resting a cheek under her folded hand as she waited patiently for someone to arrive. She turned and got up onto her feet, smiling brilliantly at the boy. He could feel his heart jumpstart and start hammering in his throat.
“I’m good. How’s it going with you?” She asked, seeing his shoulders shrug and his voice stay stuck in his throat. He cleared it with a cough, as she approached. Her hands held behind her back as she walked over to him. “I was wondering if anyone was ever going to show up.”
“It’s going… How are you?” Hayner muttered, his mind going a million miles a minute and his palms getting clammy. Kairi struggled to keep her smile, wondering if he realized he already asked her that. She nodded, her eyes falling to the floor.
“It’s going.” She answered warmly, nodding her head towards him. Interlacing her hands behind her back, hoping to hide her anxious finger fidgeting from Hayner as she met his gaze. She hadn’t just hung out with just him before, so this was going to be new. “Sora’s out investigating some world out there with Riku and I was hoping to get a break for all the world hopping and have some ice cream.”
“Oh, yeah. Ice cream.” Hayner grinned, nodding his head mindlessly as he clawed his attention to Kairi’s words and did not want to focus on her pale pink lips. “Ice cream. Ice cream sound good.”
“Ice cream do, ‘sound good.’.” Kairi darted her eyes towards the entrance to the hangout spot. Her tongue presses into the inside of her cheek before she speaks again. “Do you… want to go get ice cream?”
“Do I-with you?” Hayner grumbled as he pressed a finger to his chest in surprise. She nodded in agreement, seeing him chuckle and watched as his cheeks flushed pink. “Y-Ye-Yeah. Sure.”
“Well, alright!” Kairi took Hayner by the hand and had to drag him out the door, partly because she was so excited to go get some ice cream. Mostly because Hayner’s brain short circuited when Kairi’s tender hand interlaced with his. Locked together tightly and securely, which made Hayner’s heart begin throbbing in his ears.
Hayner held a girl’s hand that wasn’t his mother’s exactly twice. Once was Olette’s in second grade when they had to do a dance routine for PE class and a dance move required his hand locking with hers. She giggled the whole time and Hayner had to struggle to not gag.
The second time was in junior high, when he had Fuu as a girlfriend for a week before she broke up with him to date Zell because he got a garage tattoo at age fourteen on his face and she thought that was really cool.
He didn’t get a chance to ask to walk her home before she bounced over to Zell. Either way, it wasn’t too much of a heartbreak as much as a wakeup call.
He just finally remembered they were dating when she wrote him the breakup letter and left it in his locker for him to find.
“I think I want something chocolatey! Something with cookies! I don’t know.” Kairi’s enthusiasm was infectious, and made Hayner smile as he waited in line with her. “So many good choices! What are you getting?”
“What else? Sea salt ice cream!” Hayner shrugged nonchalantly, eyes shut in a blasé way, one that made Kairi giggle and made his heart throb in his chest. He tried desperately to downplay how much he was enjoying spending time with her. To look mysterious and be aloof. “It’s a classic.”
Kairi grinned, digging the toes of her boots into the brick as kept her eyes on the local boy. The way he held himself, exaggerating his voice and his mannerisms. Trying oh so hard to look uninterested and cool, which only endeared him more to her. He didn’t need to act like someone he wasn’t.
“It’s been a while since-”
“Move, dummy.” His voice was coarse and rough, a hand knocking against Hayner’s shoulder to shove him ahead. Hayner stumbled forward, caught himself before he fell, and felt his jaw clench as he turned around to face his aggressor. Already knowing who it was the moment he opened his mouth. “Quit holding up the line, lamer. Some of us want to eat, today!”
Seifer folded his arms over one another, his muscle bound toned arms bare and on display as he crooked his head and nudged his chin towards Hayner. Whose eyes glanced over at Kairi who stared daggers at the beanie wearing hoodlum. Her eyes glanced at Seifer's thick arms, her hands curling to fists. Hayner straightened his back, trying to make himself appear bigger and stronger than Seifer. Which was hard, because Hayner’s arms were lean and thin, and he stood a few inches shorter than the bully. Regardless, he didn’t back down. Not when he had an audience.
“Shove it, man.” Hayner’s voice dropped an octave to appear more grown up and manly, which only served to excite Seifer, who then postured out his chest and glared at the boy. Taking a step forward and getting in Hayner’s face. “We are going to move. Hold your breath.”
“Hey, look at you, chicken-wuss.” Seifer glanced over at Kairi with a lustful look. Taking note of her curves and her body before turning back towards Hayner. “Showing off for your girlfriend there, bud?”
“She’s-She’s-Stop! You don’t even! Shut-” Hayner lost his voice immediately, stumbling over his words and his blush returning to his face as Seifer glanced over at Kairi and squinted his eyes. Puckering his lips and pursing them towards Kairi teasingly. Making kiss noises at her. Kairi glowered at the beanie wearing boy, sucking on her teeth.
“So, what if I am?” Kairi interlaced her hand with Hayner’s, smirking at the bully with a fire in her eyes. Her eyes then switched, glistening in the evening light and her voice rising to a high pitch, playing up the femininity in her voice. “I’m Kairi! I’m here for the night to visit my boyfriend before I head back up to my mom’s place out of town. I’ve missed him so much, I just had to see him!”
She rocked in her spot, pulling her and Hayner’s interlocked hands up to her mouth and planting a kiss to the back of his hand. Her smile broke across her face immediately after.
“Oh, um-” Hayner scratched his head with his free hand, before shakily agreeing with a smile of his own. “Yeah! She’s down for the night - She’s spending the night. With me- Not with me but spending the evening-time hours with me, Hayner. Her boyfriend.”
Hayner cringed as he wondered if Kairi would take him away from Twilight Town to find a new world so he can avoid being on this planet anymore.
“Hays promised me ice cream next time I came into town.” Kairi’s voice mewed, giggling playfully as she leaned into her boyfriend and resting her cheek on his shoulder. “So, please leave us alone.”
“When you want a real man, sweetie, shoot me a line. Be happy to take you around the block.” Seifer grinned lecherously, running his tongue over his teeth. Kairi glanced over him, before letting out a short laugh.
“When I see one, you’ll be the first one I’ll tell.” Kairi bit, grinning deviously as she folded her arms over one another. Glancing over Seifer as a sour taste spreads in her mouth and twists her face. His face drops, losing its attempt at a raunchy stare and starting to grimace. Hayner snickered, taking a step forward and ordering the ice creams for him and Kairi. Her eyes still focused on Seifer. Making him smaller in her stare. She turned her attention back to Hayner as he spoke to the worker, making note to purposefully glance him down from head to toe in front of Seifer. “Hey, I found a real man, Seifer. Take notes.”
“Watch it, Red.” Seifer warned, clenching his jaw and huffing aggressively. His hands curled into taut fists as he glared at her. “Don’t think that because you’re cute, it means you’re not fair game.”
“Oh, please.” Kairi rolled her eyes, scoffing at him as she pointed to his stature and his stance and his faux confidence. “I’ve dealt with monsters who are bigger and badder than you. You’re just a bully, who's so scared of people seeing through him. I feel bad for you.”
“Hey, got the ice cream. Ready for the trolley?” Hayner flashes the wrapped ice cream and nudges Kairi with his elbow to catch her attention. She takes his hand into hers and walks on with Hayner. Playfully tapping her shoulder into his as they walked alone. Seifer growling angrily to himself as he got his ice cream. Kairi turned to Hayner, turning her head so their eyes met one another.
“I would have covered the cost. I have the Munny.” Kairi admitted, Hayner shaking his head immediately.
“My dad taught me when you take a girl out, you always pay for the meal.” Hayner noted, a kind smile crossing his face. Kairi grinned, eyes glowing mischievously.
“Oh? You’re taking me out?” Kairi’s voice sounded almost giddy, but Hayner chalked it up to her bubbly personality. His cheeks a bright red and his lips trembling slightly before she continued. “Well, aren’t I special?”
She squeezed her hand three times in quick succession while she leaned into him as they walked together. Hayner’s heart shuddered in his chest, but he felt a surge of bravery in his body and chased after that feeling with a dead sprint.
“Well,” Hayner’s voice sounded relaxed and effortless as he spoke in a lower voice. “I think I’m the lucky one here. I get to take you out.”
It was Kairi’s turn to be flustered and have her words get caught in her throat, walking with the boy to the trolley station.
Hayner’s trip with Kairi on the trolley was a dream date he had always fantasized for himself. Perhaps not initially envisioned with Kairi, but definitely most recently with the Princess of Heart in mind. Something he had longed to share with someone, and fate decided it would be with Kairi.
There was a time when Pence and Hayner discussed what they would do if they got girlfriends, with Pence stating he would take her out on the train to enjoy the sunset horizon, spending time at Sunset Hill while enjoying conversations about nothing in particular. Getting to know the girl.
Hayner opted to say he would take her to the station and ride a trolley, he guessed. Trying to stay as simple as possible.
While he refused to go into more detail than that with his friend, it left Pence to imagine the aloof and uninterested Hayner sitting alongside a poor girl, blocking her voice out because he was too cool to be interested in ladies. Something the more romantically inclined Pence often thought about and thought about aloud. Hayner, however, didn’t care to explain to Pence at the cost of diminishing his reputation. Even if he thought about it all the time, alot more than Pence did. More like, the dream of his trolley date was his kind thoughts to lure him to sleep kind of all the time.
What Hayner neglected to inform Pence when he thought of a ride on the trolley as a possible date idea was because of its slow pace, it offered time to just talk. Being so close to the Sweet stop, it would offer a chance to get a snack. The winding hills of the trolley’s path would offer some nice scenery. And the opportunity if the trolley got too crowded, being a gentleman and offering his seat to the lady as he took the leather strap and stood by.
To Pence’s credit, Hayner only copied about thirty percent of his plan. Hayner sat alongside Kairi, as the trolley rocked and shifted its way through the town.
Kairi still had her hand interlocked with Hayner’s own, which he didn’t complain about. Or want to complain about. He was deathly terrified if he reminded her that she was still holding his hand, she would break the hold.
The trolley came to one of its various stops, and more people came aboard to ride. Hayner cleared his throat and prepared to offer his seat. As a gentleman would.
As he opened his mouth, a pair of children packed onto the bench they shared and shoved Kairi into Hayner’s lap. The sudden weight made his body lock and hands get slick and tremble.
Hayner’s eyes grew wide when Kairi simply readjusted her seat, turned her knees to rest between Hayner’s thighs and pulled her face close to his own. Practically laying atop of him.
The proximity of the other passengers made them come extremely close together. Kairi’s knees pressed deeply between Hayner’s legs, her hands held in her lap and knocking against his chest with every jostling rock of the trolley.
Kairi hooked some loose hairs behind her ear, giving Hayner a weak smile with a warm glow spreading across her cheeks. She had never sat in a boy’s lap like this before. Hayner’s heart sang when she let her hair frame around her face and show off more of that tender smile and those darling eyes.
“Hey there.” She giggled to try and ease the tension, seeing Hayner simply nod in response. His silence made her laugh even more and hands moved off of her lap. She shifted to rest her fingers along his shoulders. Keeping him level with her as they spoke.
She had often seen Sora curled up on Riku’s in the Gummi Ship on those long treks along the stars, and often wondered how it felt to be held like that. To have a hand trail down her back to gently ease her to sleep. She saw the nervousness in Hayner’s face and grinned. “No need to be frazzled, Hays.”
“I’m not frazzled.” Hayner grumbled as he glared away from the cab and focused on the sights that they passed. Trying to ignore the rumbling in the cab that makes Kairi bounce in his lap every so often. Each bouncing making his jaw clench. “And Hays?”
“Not a fan?” Kairi shrugged, rolling her eyes as she sighed with discontent. Internally screaming as she thought he hated such an awful nickname. “I wanted to try something. If you’re not into it, I won’t call you that.”
Hayner was sure she could call him every awful name in the book and he would thank her for it.
“It’s fine.” Hayner muttered with a now level tone. He then added with a smirk. “Only you get to call me that, though.”
“Deal.”
Eventually riding along the tram takes them to one of the arched bridges on the outskirts of town. Thankfully, Hayner had seated them on the side facing the ocean, just as he wanted for her to see.
“It can’t get better than this.” She whispered as she stared out across the shimmering golden hued surface of the mellow sea as it ran across the horizon beyond them. Hayner smirked, squeezed her hand and caught her attention. The glow of the sun gives her a golden glow like an angel. Hayner swore she even caught a halo of light to cap off the look. “Can there be a prettier thing?”
“I can think of one.” Hayner thought aloud, realizing too late that he said what he was thinking when Kairi giggled to herself and tucked her chin to her shoulder out of embarrassment. Trying to hide her blushing face. Hayner smirked, taking a hand on tapping it along her knee. Each touch pulled back as though her skin were a live wire that shocked him every time. “Look who’s frazzled now?”
“I’m not frazzled.” She mumbled, attempting to mimic Hayner’s own tone of voice, which made him laugh in return. “So, when are we going to eat the ice cream?
“I saved the best spot for last!” He tugged on the stopcord and notified the driver to stop the trolley at the next stop. “I just hope you’re not scared of heights!”
“This is the best view of the whole city!” Hayner excitedly said as he carefully led Kairi up to the edge of the clock tower’s walkway. Standing just beneath the massive clock faces and throwing his legs over the side of the railing. He guides Kairi to sit beside him, a smile stagnant on his face as he sees her wonderment at such a beautiful sight. She could see the whole city from so high up, with its interconnecting streets and alleys, trolley tracks and huge bridges leading to the other terraces and districts in the world. “This is my favorite part of the day. Sun setting, the ocean’s calm. No clouds in the sky. It’s perfect.”
He said all this as though he were actually looking across the cityscape and not just staring at her because she’s the prettiest thing he’s ever seen. He was mesmerized by how cute her dimple was when she smiled at a certain angle, and how the light of the setting sun rested on her face and enveloped her in a ray of pure sunshine and light. He saw her turn her head towards him, her pink lips moving and no words coming out.
He blinked and it was as if he could hear again. Every sound in the world compounded at once and only her voice rose above the noise. That angelic, tender voice of hers breaking through the sounds of the city below.
“Hayner? You got the ice cream?” She asked, seeing him blink back into reality and wordlessly pull the ice cream from his pocket. He handed her one and took the other. He stared off into the horizon, a fleeting smile on his face. A sight that Kairi noticed almost immediately. “You ok?”
“It’s just that… you holding my hand. Walking around with me. Even sitting on my lap when we were on the trolley.” Hayner’s fingers fiddled with the wrapper of his ice cream. Trying to ward off the anxious feeling he was having. He has to tell her how it made him feel, that it made him feel alive. “It made me feel…”
“Normal.” Kairi answered for him, even if it was the wrong word that he was going to use. She smiled gently as her gaze turned toward the city. The horizon’s red light caught in her beautiful eyes. “I don’t think I would be so grateful to be able to have such a normal day.”
“Really?” Hayner was baffled by her words, taking a bite out of his ice cream with a bewildered expression. How would she be grateful for a boring day? “What’s so special about a normal day?”
Kairi smiled with a longing look in her eye, fiddling with the wooden stick holding up her treat.
“Do you know the last time I got to go out on a date with a boy?” Kairi asked, watching his face flush and his eyes go wide. His hands began to tremble as he realized that she thought this was a date too. “Exactly. Never. I never get to just eat ice cream or ride a trolley for fun. Talk to people like… people. I’ve really only talked to Goofy and Donald for the last few weeks, in between Sora and Riku being dragged to every corner of the Realm to save it from danger. It’s nice to take things slow.”
“A date?” Hayner whispered mostly to himself, his mind racking over the fact Kairi thought this was a date.
“It’s nice to be a girl for a while. You know? To be out there, like a person.” Kairi admitted, flashing a grin to Hayner with a spark of light in her eye. “Thank you Hayner, for being such a good date. It’s been fun.”
Hayner could only grin, scratching the back of his head with a chuckle.
“Well,” Hayner shrugged, eyes glancing to her lips and back to her own eyes. “You know… You make it easy. You’re… you’re a good date too, Kairi.”
Kairi smiled, catching the way his eyes lit up as he spoke to her. He turned his eyes towards the horizon, and in mid-lick of the ice cream, felt a pair of tender lips pressed against his peach fuzz cheek.
“Thanks for the date, sweetie. ” She whispered, her short laugh breaking her smile and causing her lips to brush against his face once again. He felt a heat rivaling the sun spread across his face and the shock caused him to drop his ice cream off the clock tower edge, as opposed to what his heart was doing. Which was soaring across the sky like a bird in flight as he realized he didn’t just like Kairi. He liked-liked her. She must’ve liked him too, he thought. She even gave him a kiss to cap off their impromptu date. “If you want to go out again… let me know. Maybe I’ll stop by to visit.”
Sure, Hayner didn’t get to have other worldly adventures among the stars like Sora. Hayner didn’t get to have a weapon with a legacy as powerful and as interesting as a Keyblade to wield with wisdom and courage like Sora. He didn’t get to save his friends from creatures of the dark, save the girl of his dreams, and go home to live a typical life with his family like Sora.
But what he did get was a date with Kairi and a kiss from her too. And he was more than ok with that.