"Mama, I'm out!" Chouchou exclaimed before leaving her household, but a bigger figure stood protectively at the front of the doorstep
"...And where are you going?"
Choji, despite his somewhat serious tone, displayed a worried face while he ate his consomé flavored chips
"Ah... To meet my friend."
Choji narrowed eyes
"Which friend?"
And Chouchou narrowed her eyes too. How much she wished her father would stop with the unnecessary jealous act and trust her judgment now that she was older, but she had to face it, the moment he knew it was a boy, Choji would never allow her to leave the house in her free days
"Sarada! Stop asking already... It's not cool."
"Not cool," was something Konoha's parents didn't like to be labeled as so taking advantage of the momentary shock Choji felt, Chouchou ran past through him
"C-Chouchou!"
"See ya, Papa!"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Moments later
Chouchou stood in front of the door while playing impatiently with a strand of her long auburn hair. It was 3 pm when she arrived at Mitsuki's apartment as they accorded some days before. The reason was something very mundane but shocking for her; the candies she gifted him back on her birthday were left untouched and that was inconceivable, so she demanded to eat them as soon as possible. She just felt a little restless because of three reasons. First, her conversation with Sarada the day of the movies and what she implied made her feel way more self-conscious around Mitsuki. Second, the point of meeting. And even if this was actually her second time at his place, she couldn't shake the feeling something very romantic could happen. Perhaps it was all these dramas she watched that it was so easy for her to imagine many possible scenarios where...
"It's just Mitsu," Chouchou reassured in her mind despite her reddened cheeks.
The third reason was way more concerning, but she would need to be upfront and brave about it. Could she?
She then heard his footsteps approaching the door and a strange sensation pooled in her stomach
"Sorry, I didn't think you would come this early."
Mitsuki received her with a towel on his head, scrubbing his wet hair as if he just had a shower, and that sole sight made Chouchou even more nervous. She shook her head quickly and said
"Even I can be early sometimes, dummy."
And she bolted inside as nothing while Mitsuki smiled after he closed the door.
"...."
With her hands on her waist, Chouchou remained still at the entrance of his apartment. There was this warm, soapy scent in the air which made her realize how close they were now that she was able to see this side of Mitsuki she would never imagine before. A faint blush colored her cheeks when she said, looking away
"Uhm, where can I sit?"
Mitsuki, who was scrubbing his hair with a towel, froze for a moment. With a low paused voice, he said
"I actually don't have chairs or a table so you can sit on my bed if you like."
Chouchou's mind was going 1000% for a minute but she decided to turn it off and did as he said. She liked the soft blue bedsheet that covered his bed and wondered if he had bought it recently since it looked kinda new. Curiously, she started to look around his apartment. This time of the day allowed her to see better than the last time. A tall metal rack full of flasks, boxes of medicine, and pills were the thing that caught her attention first. Mitsuki noticed, feeling somewhat self-conscious
"..."
"It's not that interesting, right?"
"H-huh?"
Mitsuki took another brief pause before saying
"My place, I meant."
"Oh..."
Chouchou said the first thing that came to her mind
"You probably like it this way, with few things..."
"It's minimalistic and stylish!"
Then she crossed her arms displaying a thoughtful mannerism
"Though if it were me, I would put more things around and..."
Mitsuki chuckled. He figured out it would be the case
"Chouchou's room is very colorful and lively. It reflects how you are and what kind of impression you give."
She looked at him with curious eyes
"Hehe... you think so? It took me a lot of time to achieve that!"
Chouchou took a pause before saying the following
"I think your place somehow reflects a part of you too. It's a small apartment and has few things, yet it feels very peaceful."
"As if nothing bad can happen here."
Mitsuki arched his little eyebrows in surprise, then he chuckled again and sat next to Chouchou despite his agitated heartbeats and asked
"How can you be so sure nothing bad can happen here?"
She pouted and pointed at him
"It's how it feels! That's what you said, right? On how it reflects part of you!"
"Being around you feels like that. I feel... Secure..."
The words left her lips so easily. "Secure," was something she wouldn't have said about him many years back when she met him. Mitsuki always looked small and weak in her eyes, perhaps this is why she never considered him as a guy who she would choose as a boyfriend. The Mitsuki she knows now is... Well, almost the same. It's just that Chouchou was discovering him little by little during the years, and even more now that she was hanging with him. On how reliable he was when his friends were in need, or how he was willing to protect them in the most selfless ways.
"So, you feel that way..."
Mitsuki quietly said, not looking at her directly. His view dropped to the floor, and his hands held anxiously together while a faint and very unusual shade of red colored his cheeks. "Secure," she said and the first thing that crossed his mind was to embrace her. Mitsuki felt many things, a mixture of shame and excitement... and happiness.
These new symptoms were getting worse to the point Mitsuki thought they were dangerously... Uncontrollable.
Timidly(As much as someone like him could get) looked back at the auburn-haired beauty just to find out she was looking at him with a surprised expression
".........."
"Ah," Chouchou faintly said, her lips barely parted. She did it! She made Mitsuki blush! And oh boy, she definitely wanted to see more. It was clear to her now, that it just took a compliment to obtain it, and to her, it felt weird. Wasn't Mitsuki the type of person who would receive tons of compliments anyway? She watched him curiously, thinking saying something nice for once about his appearance would do the job. So when her eyes wandered too much on his long neck, traced upwards to his now strong jawline, and focused on his thin lips, her mind went blank, forgetting what was the purpose of her actions. Chouchou was lost in what seemed to be a very pleasant view
"...Why are you looking at me like that?"
Chouchou blinked and swallowed at the same time so violently that it almost hurt
"T-T-The candy?! Where is it?!"
Mitsuki stared quietly before he said
"Ah. They are on that rack..."
Chouchou's eyes immediately followed where Mitsuki's finger was pointing. She quickly stood and sat next to the rack on the floor. It was cold and nowhere as comfy as his bed was, but it was needed for her to keep her cool. In her head, she continued blaming all the dramas she saw in her life, as the possibilities flew into her mind. Mitsuki on the other hand just arched his little brow with an amused smile. "Might be her condition acting up," he concluded.
The girl on the floor coughed
"W-wow I guess I bought too much, even by Akimichi standards-"
"Really? I've seen you eating way more than that."
"And why the heck are you watching me that closely?" a brief thought passed by Chouchou's mind. The answer was obvious to her; Mitsuki was into her. She said it plenty of times because it seemed that way whenever she caught him staring too much, but it was crazy how she never deepen into the possibility that his feelings could be... real. "A crush is a crush, but love is another thing," her hand ranked on her long silky hair, trying to be cool-
"Anyway, which one of these seems interesting to you?"
Chouchou opened the bag completely so Mitsuki could see the contents better. Even so, he left his bed and sat next to her, now looking closer at the candy loot, holding his chin with his hand in a pensive mannerism. There was a long bag decorated with colorful characters with big bold letters that said "stretchy". He simply pointed out that one and Chouchou beamed
"That's Neri Ame! It's super tasty and fun to eat. Let me show you now..."
Mitsuki wasn't the type of boy who would get impressed by many things or perhaps was the case he wasn't good at expressing amazement, but he genuinely felt invested in the whole ordeal it was to eat this candy thing. He watched carefully how Chouchou poured the bright pink candy goo that came in a smaller baggy between a pair of chopsticks and energetically kneaded it between them until the pink candy slowly turned pale and thick. With pretty eyes and a bright smile, Chouchou handled him one stick while remarking
"Eat it fast before it falls off!"
As expected, Mitsuki didn't know where to start, so he glanced first at the expert. Chouchou chomped bits of the stretchy candy, letting some pleasant "hmn," between each chomp
"The taste is very simple but it's very nostalgic..."
She added before she cleaned her lips with her fingers in a satisfactory way. Mitsuki watched all of this carefully thinking about how she was able to make food look so desirable
"..."
He finally decided to try himself with a cautious lick first. He would do this with all the food Chouchou offered before, and she couldn't help but smile when he did that. Something about helping him find things he would like felt exciting to her.
"How is it?"
"Too sweet."
"And difficult to successfully swallow," he thought as he struggled with the dripping candy, ultimately doing what he would usually do with food this stubborn, just dump it all in his mouth. Chouchou amusedly watched and questioned
"Don't you like sweetness?"
"A little is good, but this is too much for me. I wouldn't eat this every day."
Chouchou chuckled
"Why, of course. These are junk food. You don't eat them every time, they are for cravings."
While he cleaned his mouth, Mitsuki tried to figure out what she meant by that so he asked anyway
"...Cravings?"
"Hn! Don't you feel sometimes like you want something really bad... And you want that thing as soon as you can?"
Mitsuki slowly stared away
"It happens to me all the time with food he he he..."
"I understand."
He took a long pause before saying
"I know... How that feels very well."
With a curious look, Chouchou stared at Mitsuki, not finding the right angle to see what type of face he was making at the moment. Out of genuine interest, she asked
"...Really? What do you have cravings for?"
"Of you," he searched for the strength to never say. He wanted to feel that recomforting something when he held her in his arms, as it had become important for him to obtain. He seriously doubted his need to hug her would decrease if he continued to pursue it, considering the last time he did just made his condition worse. He decided it was better for him to ignore any feeling or need from now on. It would just take a bit more willpower that Mitsuki humbly thought he still had
Chouchou on the other hand was still waiting for an answer, looking directly at him, who was now facing downwards with a melancholic expression. It was then when something caught her attention, and without thinking much, acting at the spur of the moment, her thumb rose gently his lips giving them a brief stroke.
Mitsuki's eyes were as round as two moons, lips barely parted, he slowly turned to face Chouchou who had pulled her hand away so quickly, leaving him with the thought that maybe what she did just happen in his head
"You..."
She swallowed
"You had some candy there..."
Doubtful eyes watched the boy she had at her front, unable to do it with confidence as she would always do. Her cheeks were tinted in dark red while she rubbed her index finger and thumb together, feeling an unfamiliar type of embarrassment
"Chouchou...," he thought as his body moved without his consent. Mitsuki first leaned forward, slowly and carefully and then, with arms gradually rising and with an uncontrollable heartbeat rate, he approached her, who finally was looking at him directly with bright glossy eyes
"...M-Mitsuki?"
At an impossible speed, his arms raised and went for his prey who happened to be at her direction.
"Maw... maw..."
Her lips formed a small "o" as she held her breath. For a moment she thought he was about to... Chouchou briefly looked down and asked
"Oh... Is it your cat?"
Mitsuki, who was now holding Mikazuki in his arms, dug his whole face over the fur of his pet, hiding his now evident embarrassment. He hoped she didn't have a good sense of hearing as he had because he could clearly hear his heartbeats rumbling across the room.
"Hn."
Mitsuki said with a quiet, paused voice
"Mikazuki is its name."
"Oh..."
Chouchou kept staring at him holding his pet dearly
"So... Is it female or male?"
Peeking through Mikazuki's fur, he said
"I don't know... I honestly never cared."
"Ah... I knew you would say that..."
Mitsuki curved his lips. Was he unintentionally influencing Chouchou? He heard her say
"But it wouldn't hurt to know, right?"
"Hmm... I think all it takes is to look at its crotch and..."
"Err... Better ask a vet about it..."
Last time he took Mikazuki to a vet was when it was still a kitty and the experience was too nerve-wracking even for him.
"I could ask my parent about it..."
"Oh... Your parent..."
Chouchou's mouth felt a little dry, as some of the events of the day she hung with Anko popped into her mind. She had to ask
"Who is your parent anyway?"
He just took a peek and smiled but never replied. That didn't feel good to her
"Mitsu-"
"Orochimaru."
He left Mikazuki on the floor after he revealed it.
"...Don't you have more of those sweets to show me?"
"So it really was..." Chouchou stared back at him while she started to feel concern. Yes, she could drop the conversation now and continue to eat more. And she would definitely love that
Still...
"Is there a reason why they aren't living with you?"
"It doesn't matter. Can we drop it?"
When he was younger, it was easier to tell his connection with Orochimaru to his friends. To some extent. he held pride that someone as knowledgeable as his parent was his creator, yet even within Mitsuki's ignorance, he knew there was something questionable in their ways. And even more after that one time he left Konoha and found out Orochimaru's actions directly affected the family of each of the members of his team, it didn't feel right anymore.
But Chouchou was a stubborn one
"Hey, you can tell me. I won't judge."
"It's not about anything you could be thinking right now."
"...And how can you be so sure about that?"
Mitsuki looked back at her with an unusual frown on his forehead and Chouchou had a hunch he would tell her off, so she tried to say things in another way
"Look, I hate heavy stuff too, but I..."
She swallowed
"I have a feeling something is off here."
A small smile formed on Mitsuki's face, even a faint "heh," could be heard
"Can you take hunchs and feelings as proof of anything? At all?"
The tone he used to say that sounded as if he was mocking her, and it just took that to anger Chouchou
"Do you really have to be a jerk about it?"
With a quick step, Mitsuki approached her, not removing his eyes from hers
"If constantly telling you to stop asking means being a jerk, then yes. I am one right now."
Chouchou bit her lip in frustration
"I'm not asking because I want to be a pain, I'm asking because I'm afraid your goddamn parent might not be treating you well!"
"They are."
Her cheeks were flushed in dark red, anger and sadness all mixed together was the only thing she could feel at the moment. She felt something was wrong, but was there really anything she knew to prove Mitsuki's word otherwise? Her view dropped to the floor before she said
"...Fine."
Mitsuki, who couldn't read the reason behind her words, felt relieved. He said
"Hn. Nothing good will come out of knowing those things anyway."
Then he sat and continue to rummage through the bags of sweets that lay on the floor. With a more relaxed smile, he offered them to her
"What can we eat from here then?"
But Chouchou didn't sit or grabbed another piece of snack. Her eyes were glossy and her hands were forming fists
"Nothing good will come out of knowing?"
She dryly chucked
"I see... So you don't trust me."
Mitsuki's lips briefly parted as he displayed a confused expression
"That's not what I meant."
He stood and grabbed her arm, so she could look at him but she harshly released from his grip
"I..."
Her eyes, bright and intense, pierced his with anger. She didn't shred a single tear but she was very close to
"I was worried about you, jerk!"
And with those last words, Chouchou left his apartment, leaving him standing in confusion.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Stupid, stupid, STUPID!"
Chouchou stomped down the stairway of the apartment complex. How could one guy be so cynical? Her angry stroll kept to a similar rhythm until she reached the second floor, where she realized something she should have earlier.
"Wait... So that means he lied back then?"
She was now looking upwards with worried eyes and a cooler head.
"..."
Before she knew, she was taking the stairway up again.
On the fourth floor, she noticed a tall, cloaked figure coming down, so she took the opposite side of the stairway. When the person passed next to her, Chouchou instinctively looked at them from the corner of her eye
"Ah-"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mitsuki slowly picked up all the remaining snacks that were on the floor, not completely understanding what just happened a while ago.
"..."
Within the pile of snacks, a small version of the chips Chouchou liked so much. He picked them up, thinking about her.
"It's not that I don't trust you..."
His heavy heartbeats were accompanied by a painful piece in his chest. Why things ended up being this way? They were having such a good time...
And Mitsuki still wanted to have a good time, so he kept the chips in one hand and left his apartment in search of Chouchou.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mitsuki could have jumped out of his complex to search for her, but he knew Chouchou was somewhat slow, so the most probable thing was to find her still taking the stairway. With a hasted pace he ran down his way to the second floor, where he could hear something
"L-let me go!"
His eyes widened, it was Chouchou's voice.
He jumped up to the border of the stairway that faced the streets, but he couldn't see anything, nor he could hear Chouchou's voice anymore. A sharp chill ran across his spine.
"What's going on...?"
Mitsuki searched the whole staircase of his complex and the nearby streets that surrounded it. Nothing. He ran his hand across his now sweat-covered forehead
Where did Chouchou disappear to?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Author notes:
We will find out soon enough!