When plunnies randomly strike at 2am. Please R&R!

She had 2 days to find herself a date for her family's business gala. She was 15 years old and she refused to go alone, let alone get haggled by the annoying rich snobs who thought they were the best thing to have graced the earth.

Which led to her current problem.

She absolutely had to have a date. Her mother had even started to expect it from her with how she'd been bragging about already having one.

(Whoever said a white lie couldn't kill you ((literally or socially)) needed a swift Ran-powered kick to the knees.)

Which was probably why after she had complained about it to Ran at school it was so utterly unexpected when Shinichi of all people offered on their way home, "Excuse me?"

Shinichi shrugged, his bag held behind his head with the most bored look on his face replied, "I'll be your date."

Ran rose an eyebrow as Sonoko felt her world tilt off axis, "Shinichi… I thought you barely tolerated Sonoko."

He huffed in annoyance as he moved his arms to his sides, "My parents and I were also invited, but they can't go and if it's causing her that much trouble I don't mind helping her out this one time. She is your best friend and it's not like we don't know each other." Clearly he didn't want to go but it seemed he had to be there to represent his parents anyway.

Sonoko could hardly believe it! It was not only completely unexpected, but it would also make things less awkward. At least she would know her date well enough (having grown up together), and he definitely wouldn't embarrass her either. She smiled slightly, "If Ran's alright with it then I guess I don't mind." She flipped a bit of hair back with an elaborate twist of her hand, "Make sure you match Kudo. I'm wearing pink."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, "Just send me a picture."

Sonoko couldn't help but find herself beaming.

For as perfect of a date that Shinichi was, he wasn't able to stay by her side 100% of the time… Which led to her current predicament of hiding outside sobbing hidden behind a beautiful fountain in the elaborate maze gardens. The location the gala was being held at was richly extravagant and so were the guests, to the point that she found herself completely out-dressed by every single one of her peers.

Normally she wouldn't be at all bothered by this, however her confidence had been completely dashed when several of the girls cornered her and sneered at her, proclaiming they knew full well Kudo Shinichi would never bother to date someone like her and that she had clearly coerced him in some manner to come to this gala. He never came to these things- everyone knew he hated them.

They had picked on every aspect of her appearance from her hair to her toe-nails, grasping every single one of her flaws and insecurities and dragging them out bit by bit and dashing them through the mud.

So here she was, sobbing outside to stay away from her family as to not worry them, away from the sneering eyes of the other guests who would use anything they could against the Suzuki family just to try and pull herself together and be presentable. She wouldn't let those vultures use her against her family, or throw her to the wolves of the journalists who were reporting on the event for a quick juicy story.

The music in the distance swelled and faded over and over again, slowly blurring together until she had lost all sense of time. Her eyes itched and she knew she looked like a complete mess, but she had finally calmed enough to recognize she needed to find a bathroom to clean up. Taking a deep breath she sat up straight and looked straight into the concerned face of her date. She started, jolting back in surprise and she covered her face, "Shinichi?!"

He handed her a cool damp cloth and rubbed the back of his head as he looked away, "Sorry for not noticing sooner that something was wrong."

She patted at her face, relieving some of the burning heat that had been left behind by her tears, "N-no, it's alright."

Shinichi shuffled a bit before sitting down next to her with his hands in his pockets looking off into the distance as she collected herself, "So what happened?"

"Ah… Well, just the usual girl-stuff."

He glanced at her with a raised brow and sceptic gaze, "Girl-stuff, huh?"

She shrugged, resting her hands in her lap with a light sniff, "Some girls were jealous that I, Suzuki Sonoko, managed to get Kudo Shinichi to come to a gala willingly as my date. I must have done something to force your hand, because you certainly wouldn't bother with me otherwise. I'm not exactly a prize to look at."

She felt Shinchi roll his shoulders next to her as she sensed a severe eye roll, "You normally don't let that sort of thing get to you."

Sonoko shook her head, "It's a little different with that group of people. It's part of why I've always loved and appreciated Ran so much… she's really so genuine and the greatest friend I could have ever hoped for."

Shinichi smiled, "Yeah, Ran is pretty awesome."

She stretched her arms over her head to get the kinks out of her back as she leaned her head back, "I don't care about their opinion. It was just a lot to be nitpicked like that out of nowhere."

Shinichi nodded and turned to her, "Hey, Sonoko?"

She turned her head towards him and found herself locked in his intense gaze, "Uh.. yeah?"

She barely noticed his light touch on the side of her face as he pressed his lips against hers for a moment, causing her a flurry of confused emotions as the background faded away. Nothing else mattered except for the blue-ness of his eyes, "You're just fine the way you are, Sonoko." He got up and pulled her back to her feet with a devilish smirk on his face, "Let's get you cleaned up and make everyone jealous, alright?"

Sonoko blinked and then smiled, "Sure."

Shinichi made sure the papers spread rumors and that the girls who had gone out of their way to tear her down were drowning in jealousy. The rumor mill became a confused frenzy as the two of them continued on their regular days as if nothing happened, and though Ran asked questions they were swift to make her forget. Despite that, even if Shinichi forgot it, it was a memory Sonoko would carry with her throughout the rest of her life.

Not all kisses had to be for the sake of romance, but sometimes, they just were.

Perfect.