Candy Hearts (Kakashi Hatake x Iruka Umino) (Valentine's Day 2019)

2/14

Iruka Umino was nervous as he approached the bench where he'd seen no other than his crush, Kakashi Hatake. Their interaction the night before had been quite odd, and after the older man's reaction to him mentioning the kiss, he was somewhat afraid of what might happen if he were to bring it up again. Still, though, it was Valentine's Day, he'd spent most of the day alone, and he wanted to spend the rest of the night with Kakashi.

To his delight, when he arrived at the bench, Kakashi was already there, sitting down and waiting for him. He approached the bench and grinned, sitting down next to the silver-haired man.

"Kakashi, how are you?" Iruka blinked when he felt his thigh brush against Kakashi's, thinking that maybe he'd sat a little too close by accident, but Kakashi didn't seem to mind it.

"I'm good. How are you, Sensei?"

"I'm well. Happy Valentine's day, by the way!" Holding out one box of candy hearts that he'd bought, Iruka's smile only grew when Kakashi took it. The brunette held the other one that he'd brought for himself, opening it and watching as Kakashi did the same. "I've come bearing gifts."

"Thanks," Kakashi chuckled, eating a few as well. "Now I feel bad for not bringing something."

"Don't," Iruka laughed, nervously eating a few of the candies. "I, um, wanted to talk about that kiss that happened the other day..."

"Right, I figured that was why you were so frantic when I brought it up yesterday. Sorry I just up and left, that probably gave you the wrong idea, but I wasn't prepared to talk about it yet."

"It's fine, but..." Iruka trailed off, waiting for some sort of explanation.

"I'm gonna be honest and get it out of the way," Kakashi leaned back in the bench for a moment, tense as he tightened his grip on the box of candy that was in his hand. "I liked it- loved it, even, but it would've been better if it were on purpose- and, you know, without my mask."

"Well! That's a relief." Iruka's heart swelled in his chest as he leaned forward, thanking whatever gods were out there for blessing him with this.

Surprisingly, the silver-haired man changed the subject to the candy hearts.

"You eat these every year?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow, eating a few more. The crunch of them lightly entered Iruka's ears; a surprisingly calming sound.

"Ah, no... I never tried these as a kid-" Iruka admitted, looking off to the side for a moment. "Didn't have the money for candy, you know how it is. This is my first time actually trying them."

"Oh, right... I suppose I was in the same spot. I saved it for more important things, and I guess I never got around to spending my savings on anything aside from what I considered necessary and the occasional book- Maybe ramen for the kids when I still had them."

"Same, honestly- those things and school supplies... What even are these?" Iruka questioned, taking one out of the box and eyeing it incredulously. This one was white, with a little 'I love you' printed across it in barely legible pink. "They taste like sugar cubes, to be honest."

"Yeah, that's basically what they are," Kakashi said, but ate another one and set his box down on the bench, to the left of one of his thighs. "Nothing special, but I guess the sentimental aspect of the festivity is nice. I've never been a Valentine's Day person myself, but still."

"Why's that? I know you mentioned it, but we never really talked about it in depth."

"Simple. No one to celebrate with. My dad used to, though that was years ago. Nowadays I just treat it like any other day. I guess this could be considered an exception, though."