Without any further thought, he knelt down onto the ground directly in front of her, clasped her face between his big palms, and wiped away the flowing tears from either side of her face. Her lips were almost red from biting, and he grazed his thumb over her lower lip in an attempt to free it from her teeth. "Stop hurting yourself, look at me..."
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And then a random epiphany suddenly dawned upon him. Here he was, at night time, alone with the girl he liked, in her house, her lovely face cupped in his palm, while caressing her plush, rosy lips with the touch of his thumb. Originally, there was no meaning to it other than to keep her from biting her lip almost until the point of bleeding, but now, it felt like it had been suggestive. His hands still placed right as before, the blonde just couldn't help himself from staring at her intently, as the image of her tear-soaked, glimmering, lilac eyes tempted him. The alluring lavender scent staining the air around them made him feel like he was transcending into heaven. He could feel his breaths getting shorter and heavier. It was getting hot, but perhaps that was also because he was dressed in a full suit. Fuck, this is bad. He knew. At this point, he knew that he was walking on thin ice. I should stop. But he didn't.
Slowly but minutely, his crafty thumb started laving at her lower lip. His heart was banging against his chest, and his desire for her resembled a tenacious, shackled monster, threatening to break away from its chains. He gulped as if to silence it, but that hardly served even as a tranquilizer. He was playing a dangerous game. Grappling for the last strand of reason within him, Naruto pulled his hands away just in time. Phew, that was close.
"...Don't bite on your lips. They'll start bleeding." His voice, devoid of emotion, had considerably dropped a few octaves. "Give me a minute. I'll be outside." He then promptly stood up, and went outside, leaving behind a puzzled Hinata. That was the most serious he had ever been with her. He had also failed to notice how much she was blushing from his actions. He was in such haste to de-escalate the situation, that he almost ran away in order to douse the fire in him.
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Truthfully, Hinata had never fathomed that he would touch her lips, of all things. Naruto had always maintained decent skinship with her. She had never once felt his touch to be uncomfortable in the least. But something was different in his touch this time. Though it was considerably cold around her, his fingers felt flaming hot. She felt his cool blue eyes staring at her abysmally, with such profound staidness, that pearls of tears on the edge of her eyes, froze in place. Perhaps she was exaggerating a bit, but his look and his touch gave her uncannily pleasant shudders— shudders of refreshing thrill; shivers of expectant excitement. Naruto had in fact, just kept her from biting herself until she bled, yet she couldn't help but be enthralled by his caress.
Thankfully, he left before he could see her turn red as a tomato, else it would have been awkward to explain. Though she was glad that he hadn't seen her curl up in embarrassment, somewhere along the lines, Hinata had surely lost herself in his touch. They were short, probably well-intentioned, caresses out of concern for her, but she couldn't forget the feel of them. If anything, she was left wanting for more of those. She quickly realised how unseemly her thoughts were. I should really stop deluding myself. There is no way Uzumaki-kun meant anything by that. I should stop thinking of him that way. He's being his usual, caring self. That's right... That is all, that is all... She tried to convince herself over and over again, as her ears grew steaming hot, unable to process anything else. Most miraculous of all, was that she was no longer mulling over her fears. She listened to her heartbeat softly thump away, realising he was wonderous how he could easily keep things on and off her mind, as he pleased. No fair.
He had also just left her all by herself all of a sudden to wait for him. She was a little upset about it. How rude. She pouted a little, and then proceeded to huddle herself up in the cold night.
Regardless of all the other things, she could comprehend why she was feeling so cosy and secure. He was with her, at the moment, giving her the timely affection and strength she needed, ensuring she was alright. That was all that mattered.
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Outside the apartment, (at a safe distance from Hinata), his heart finally showed signs of calming down. A deep sigh settled with the wind of the cold night, and Naruto brushed back his hair and held it there, staring into empty nothingness in the sky. He was definitely still very out of it. What the fuck was I just doing? He couldn't believe it. Holding up a fist to his mouth and exhaling deeply, he jogged his memory through the kinds of thoughts he had. Was I thinking of kissing her when she's literally in the most vulnerable state? He felt like punching himself in the face for doing something like that.
Most of all, it surprised him. Sure, he certainly loved Hinata. A whole lot, even. But all along, he had only thought along the terms of romantic love. Then what was this foreign feeling that he felt towards her, that almost gave him palpitations?
Naruto was no child. Of course he knew what sexual attraction meant, be it light or intense. However, he had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he felt this passionate urge to hold her. I'm supposed to keep her safe from the creeps, not be a creep myself. He reaffirmed to himself, especially since that it wasn't the time for him to showcase his physical affection — not that he would act on his impulses at a favourable time, either, but that was besides the point.
It just seemed wrong. Somehow, it seemed so impure. He had never held any prejudices about the times he had been intimate with a few other women in his past. But strangely enough, the craving for Hinata; who was so pure and innocent, whom he was responsible for protecting, seemed so far flung. Tainting the purity of someone as beautiful as her just seemed so sinful. Yet, deep down, his desires were far from being tamed. He was now contradicting himself so much that it almost gave him a headache.
The frigid wind seemed to help him wake up from his lucid daze. Now was not the time to be deliberating about his feelings. He realised that he had just left behind a crying Hinata to compose himself. After heaving one last sigh, he prepared himself to step inside again. To his relief, Hinata was still sitting on the bed, in the same place, and had just huddled up a little. She had stopped sobbing, and was apparently waiting for him in silence, hugging her knees. She must be cold. "I'm sorry, Hinata. I needed some time to think." He walked up to her, slowly taking off his coat.
He was still amply dressed in his full-sleeved shirt, vest and pants, but Hinata found herself blushing at the sight of him removing his coat. It almost felt like he was undressing, and it was kind of embarrassing to watch. The way he loosened his tie and unbuttoned his collar, and the way he approached her, gave her butterflies. Especially since he had been so close to her a few minutes ago. It all seemed so provocative that she felt the urgent need to squeeze her eyes shut. Is he going to... touch me again? Although uncertain, the tone of her doubts was so expectant that she herself was amazed. Anticipation tingled in her, as she heard him advance towards her steadily, his strong citrus scent swimming in her head. His breath seemed to draw closer, and her closed eyes gave her the illusion of almost being embraced by him. She wouldn't know the reason, but she would still feel good if he hugged her. To her delight, she felt his clothes brush against her shoulders, as she looked forward to more contact in the gingerly stillness. Is it going to be a hug...?
But then she felt his body warmth slowly drift away. His scent was still enveloping her, but his warmth was missing. She opened her eyes slowly, and was disappointed to see him seated on the floor, facing her. She felt the firm linen fabric of his black coat clinging to her skin, cloaked around her carefully. That was all. Nothing more, nothing less.
"You looked cold, so..." Naruto said, averting his eyes unusually. "...Have you calmed down?"
"Yes..." She pursed her lips, coming to terms with her discontent. Oh... He just wrapped his coat around me. She looked at him low-spiritedly, waiting for him to speak. I knew it... He doesn't see me that way.
"Your phone..." He asked while extending his hand briefly, taking care not to get too close.
"H-Here." She handed it to him. It was strange. Until now, everytime Hinata took a step back, he would take one step closer to get her to feel better. But what was this? He was the one taking a step back this time. The purple-head wasn't sure what to do. She didn't have enough confidence to heave him up out of the bubble. No way. Uzumaki-kun is the one with that much strength. It will probably annoy him if I try to approach him. She still very much wanted to do something for him, and watched him fiddle around with her phone and his alternately, while worrying about the tug of war going on inside her mind. Should I or should I not?
Her eyes followed him as he abruptly stood up, still focused on the phone screens. "Your contacts list has only your part-time's number and mine?" He asked out of nowhere, his golden eyebrows rising to establish his astonishment.
"Yes."
"No one else?"
She shook her head. These are more than enough.
Naruto didn't know what to feel. Should he have been honoured that she thought that way? There was an undeniable sense of pride and entitlement that had already started to swell within him, but he still couldn't lightly dismiss the fact.
"I'll tell you what ... I'll save Erika's number in here. It's good to have as many people to contact as possible, especially if your everyday life is so dangerous." He advised. "Aaand, done. There you go... Oh! And also your to-be therapist. I'll save her number as well."
It wasn't too hard to make out his stiff way of talking, though he was trying his best to conceal it. Hinata's fingers obstinately tightened around the coat. Why is he being like this?
"Uh... Are you sure you want to stay here tonight? Not very safe, you know?"
"I know... " The thought of stepping out of her house seemed intimidating. Since she had been paranoid that something bad was definitely gonna happen, a mental block had already formed over the idea. "I... I'm not in the state t-to-..."
"I get it." He didn't press any further. He himself didn't know how it would all go if he decided to bring her over to his place. "Had dinner yet?"
"No... Wh-What about you, Uzumaki-kun?"
"Nope."
"Shall we h-have dinner together?"
"... Alright. If that's what you want."
"I'll go h-heat the food up." She stood up silently and made her way over to the small kitchen space. The pan and ladles clinked slightly, as Naruto let out a deep exhale. He had just dodged a big bullet. He had already sent the predator's number over to his tech support team, to track him down. He was promised fast results, so now he had no choice but to wait.
Waiting in silence was not his forte. His curious blue eyes swam all over the small place once more. A small bed, the small way to the kitchen — Everything was small. In fact, the kitchen was bigger than the living space. The papers that were taped onto the walls caught his eye. They were all just amateur drawings and paintings that looked like they were made by a highschooler. But they all somehow had a profound sense of meaning. Naruto couldn't yet knock into the souls of the pieces, but the sight of them impacted him a lot. He walked to the wall and stared at them for quite sometime. He wasn't really an art interpreter at all, but it seemed like the bold strokes of agony on the paper spoke a language he had never heard before. He then walked around, with the thought of these paintings lingering distinctly in his mind. And then there was her open closet. He hadn't pried or anything, but one could certainly not miss the starkly standing out collection of neat clothes lined up in the hangers uniformly. But they were clearly different from the clothes that were folded and stacked right beside them.
Men's clothing.
Of a size that was definitely, definitely bigger than Hinata's. They were all of the same style too. Prim and proper cardigans, pressed shirts, pants, and two overcoats. Naruto gulped. He wasn't the type to doubt the person he loved, but these things were just glaring. The last time he checked, he didn't remember seeing a pair of shoes in the shoe locker. That was the only glimmer of hope he had faith in. However, the presence of such clothes was especially glaring. She told me she didn't have a boyfriend.
Hinata's boyfriend.
The phrase made his stomach turn. There were obviously, a lot of mixed feelings — Anger, envy, and a certain amount of guilt that he would harbour towards the character if he ever appeared. The thought of some other guy beside her, made him furiously jealous. But he had to calm down now. Let's not jump to conclusions. Despite thinking so, his mind did anything but that. What if he visits her so often that he leaves his clothes here? Does Hinata love him? His fist clenched at the thought. But of course, the fact that he hadn't found any other phone number besides her work place's and his, put him at a little ease. What if the boss is her boyfriend?
I'm reading too much into this, he scoffed, realising how cheap he was being. If there was anything like he imagined, Hinata would have told him. Right? He decided to put his trust in her. And, if there's anything, I'll just give up on trying to go out with her.
"Uzumaki-kun, I've h-heated up the dinner." He heard her sweet voice calling, breaking his thoughts like the ring of a serene bell. She brought the plates out and served him, while he looked on. Thoughts of doubt or jealousy were no longer on his mind. The sight of her hair tied up, revealing the slender nape of her neck, gliding down to her collar bone like a beautiful sculpture, enraptured him. He couldn't even remember the childish thoughts from a second ago. Hinata just made his heart weak like that. And he didn't even feel bad about the fact that he couldn't do anything about it. He was a hopeless oaf in love, and all that mattered was having the sight of his goddess lingering in front of his eyes. Her mere presence filled his heart with a mirth that couldn't have been born of anything else. It was purely her magic; hers and hers alone.
♠