Kirby Short Stories

22: Date Dodging

Tiff stood on the warm sand by the seashore, looking at her seashell collection.

"Hi, Tiff!" Kine called from the water.

"Ohhhhh, hi Kine! What—what are you doing here? I thought you went out... at five... for groceries..." Tiff responded, clearly not interested in seeing Kine.

"Yeah, I was going to, but I saw you here and decided to drop by!" Kine laughed. Tiff chuckled awkwardly, slowly, slowly, slowly backing away towards the path back to the castle.

"So, Tiff, how about we go on another date! We've only had one date so far, and I want to see you more! How about we go on another date tomorrow, right here!" Kine chirped.

Tiff almost felt bad for declining. "Oh, see, well, I'm busy tomorrow, sorry."

"Then how about the day after that?"

"Also busy."

"Oh... well..." he sadly trailed off. Tiff hated to make him sad, but if it meant she could dodge a date with him, she was willing to make him sad.

"Sorry, Kine, but I'm sure we—"

"Oh! We can have a date right now! C'mon Tiffy, there's a flat rock right here!" Kine chirped, speeding over to a large rock that was just far enough from the water to remain dry. "Take a seat!"

Tiff wanted to gag at the nickname. She slowly approached the rock, praying for a way out of this. "Kine, I'm really sorry, but I gotta go h—"

"Aw, already? But I just got here..." he pouted, then he got an idea. "Hey, how about we meet on Saturday! I'm not busy then, so it's the perfect time to meet up."

"I'm busy!" Tiff was quick to respond.

"Oh... Sunday?"

"Busy."

"With what?"

Tiff froze. Coming up with excuses wasn't exactly her specialty. It was Tuff's.

"I'm... going to a digging site with Mr. Curio."

"For the next five days?"

"W-well I've also got a... nature preservation tour to do in Whispy Woods..."

"Maybe I can drop by!"

"Uh—we won't be going anywhere near a water source... because the tour is about the... land..."

"What about the other days? You can't possibly be too busy for me then!"

"Yeah... uh... Meta Knight's out of town and I have to watch Kirby."

"But he can take care of himself."

"He's on a diet."

"But he's already really tiny."

"He also needs a haircut."

"But Tiffy, Kirby's bald!"

Tiff gulped down a gag and backed away. "Oh, well do you hear that?" She stayed silent for a beat before turning and running back to the castle, "Mymom'scallingmefordinnerokaybye!" Tiff shouted all in one breath, not bothering to turn around.

"Okay, Tiffy! I'll see you later!"

Tiff began sending Kirby down to that particular beach to collect seashells once a week.