"O-oh..."
Chouchou swallowed twice. She was having a hard time keeping her eyes focused on Mitsuki's face as her embarrassment was becoming more apparent by any passing second. Quickly, she fixed her hair and said
"Fine by me."
Mitsuki felt relieved by her reply, letting her hand go
"Should we head back to my place?"
The colors on Chouchou's face kept intensifying. She was glad it was dark so he wouldn't notice. With a dry cough, she said
"Err... Maybe a nearby park or... something?!"
He thought it was reasonable
"Alright. But there isn't a nearby one-"
"OH, CRAP!"
To Mitsuki's confusion, it was now Chouchou taking some surprising turns that night. She held him by his arm and pulled him behind some restaurant signs. When Mitsuki quietly asked what was going on, she faced him with worried, teary eyes
"I'm done for..."
He started to worry as well
"...What do you mean?"
His eyes suddenly turned dark and menacing when he realized there could be someone who made Chouchou feel this threatened
"An enemy of yours? Who is it-?"
"Shht, silly! Don't say anything now!"
Her hand covered his mouth and all he could do was follow her gaze. The one she was looking at was someone faintly familiar to Mitsuki. With something even lower than a whisper she confessed
"It's Papa..."
Akimichi Choji, the head of the Akimichi clan and Chouchou's father. He was standing in front of a takoyaki vendor, of course, buying a couple of boxes despite having a potato chip bag in his hands already. Mitsuki heard Chouchou click her tongue but reserved her commentary for herself. From afar, they could see Choji waving for someone, who turned out to be Yamanaka Sai and Nara Shikamaru.
"Oh! save!!"
Chouchou quietly celebrated and for a moment Mitsuki couldn't understand until that one conversation with Shikadai popped into his mind. To Chouchou's father, the thought of her hanging with a male displeased him intensely... For some reason.
"Papa is gonna hang with my uncles, though it would be a problem if he finds us walking around..."
While Chouchou thought of closed spaces where they could talk comfortably, Mitsuki thought of the most private and secure places they could be. He suggested finally
"I think my place is still a good choice."
Then he added
"But Chouchou's house could also be a reasonable option."
Chouchou's eyes widened a bit
"Oh..."
Well, he was right. Her house was usually the place of choice for her friends to hang out. It was spacious and there were always treats. But said friends were either Inojin and Shikadai and the rest of the girls. Even so, Chouchou liked the idea better, after all, her room was like her temple of comfort.
"Alright, let's go to my place."
Mitsuki just nodded and quickly followed her.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Wait...!"
While she made a stop gesture with her hand, Chouchou abruptly said when she saw her mom going inside the house carrying a small tote bag, as if she had come back from a quick shopping.
"I thought only your father would be an issue."
Chouchou heavily sighed
"Mitsuki... It's a given my mom would tell my dad if she finds out I'm hanging with a boy..."
When the topic appeared, Mitsuki took the opportunity to clear his doubts
"I don't understand why we can't hang out together."
"What's wrong about being male when it comes to hang with girls?"
"Come on, Mitsu! It's obvious!"
He continued staring and Chouchou had to remind herself of Mitsuki's condition as an artificial human
"Hah... They will think we are going out as a couple."
Mitsuki frowned his little brows
"So when girls hang together, they aren't a couple?"
Now it was Chouchou frowning brows, displaying a thoughtful mannerism
"Uhh... Well, that can... happen too??"
"Still! It's more common to assume when two girls or two boys hang together, it's because they are friends, as opposed to a girl and a boy hang together, people assume they are boyfriend and girlfriend."
Since Mitsuki still had a confused face, Chouchou added
"Like... You know! As if they are in love..."
Mitsuki kept staring at her as if he didn't understand what she had said and Chouchou frowned. "Wait, does he know what romantic love is, right?" she questioned in her mind, realizing there was a big chance he didn't. Chouchou brought her hand to her chest when she felt a sting, together with a displeasing feeling. The pale boy looked down thinking about her words
"Love..."
"O-oh you don't have to worry! We can talk about that another time."
"So this wasn't going to be a love confession," Chouchou thought feeling disappointed. Quickly she shook her head and said
"Look, I'm going inside first, so mama won't suspect."
"I will give you a signal from my window for you to come over, OK?"
Mitsuki nodded looking serious, as if this was a mission
"Alright, I will hide in the nearby trees then."
Chouchou gave him a thumbs-up and ran inside her house
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"That much?"
Karui kept staring at how her daughter crammed several treats into a medium size tray, while her favorite drama was playing in the background. A variety of seasonal wagashi they had stored when visitors would come over and a bottle of green tea was a weird choice for her, especially at that hour.
"It's a craving mama, just for today."
"Just for today," is something Karui would hear often inside the Akimichi household but when it came to Chouchou, she was left to trust. Her daughter knew her own limits when it came to food and she would respect them.
"Alright, alright. Just be sure to bring down that tray and wash it."
"I will, mama. Don't worry!"
With a quick step, she left. Karui just shook her head and continued to watch her drama
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mitsuki rubbed his hands on his arms. His body, as expected, was a little different than a regular human. In his case, his corporal temperature was a little lower than normal, as well as how quickly he could get cold. His eyes were fixated on Chouchou's window waiting for her to pop up. When the lights in her room turned on, he felt relieved.
"...What is she doing?"
From outside, he could see how she would start picking things from the floor and start arranging them. This wouldn't be the first time he entered her room so why was she worrying about such trivial things? It didn't take long for her to open her windows carefully
"Mitsuuu, you can come!"
She toned down her melodious voice, yet Mitsuki could hear and see her clearly.
"Uhm, make yourself at home."
This time, Mitsuki took a better look at her room. He knew what to expect at first glance; from pink-colored magazines to several little boxes decorated with gold details, many compartments near the walls that contained lots of shoes and bags... A big mirror that displayed many photos hanging with colorful tape... There wasn't any corner of her room that had something empty. Just like Chouchou, it was overflowing with color and life. He saw her sitting next to a kotatsu, over a flower-shaped pillow.
"If you like..."
Mitsuki understood and sat next to her, finding so much comfort from the heat that the kotatsu was radiating. Chouchou could guess he felt like that by the expression he was making so she suggested
"Hehe, look."
She put her arms beneath the kotatsu's blanket so she could hold her legs, letting her head rest on the table
"This way, it feels really good."
The blue-haired boy arched his little brows thinking she looked kinda funny that way, but he did as she suggested
"Ah..."
"This is good," Mitsuki let that warm feeling embrace him at the moment, as he thought about all the things he knew and learned now. All these new experiences and feelings and what it would be of himself if he hadn't decided to try. His eyes, which were shut, opened briefly to see the girl who rested next to him. Her chubby cheek was now pressed against the table with a tender smile of satisfaction. Her long strands of auburn hair looked even warmer than anything before because of the illumination of her room. Within Mitsuki's golden eyes, a glint could be seen, and small heartbeats built up to stronger ones.
"..."
If it wasn't because of Chouchou...
"Here."
A small bag of potato chips, which were well kept inside his kimono shirt was offered to her.
"I..."
He sat straight not seeing her directly. Mitsuki had never got into heated arguments with anyone before, so he really didn't know if just a "sorry," would do. Chouchou frowned, but a small warm smile accompanied it
"Yes, I'm hearing you."
"I didn't want to... hide things from you because I didn't trust you."
With doubt at first, he looked into her eyes, trying not to lose courage
"There was a possibility someone close to you was affected by my parent..."
"And I felt it would be easier if these things were kept secret after all."
He put both of his hands on his legs and made a small bow
"I'm sorry I made you go through an awful moment at my place."
"Mitsuki..."
Chouchou let her cheek rest on her hand. The theme was... too heavy for her liking, but she was more than willing to solve this
"You weren't the only one at wrong there."
She briefly sighed
"I was pressuring you to tell me things you didn't want to."
Mitsuki warmly smiled
"Yeah, but that was because you were worried about me, right?"
"Ah?!"
Chouchou frowned, partly covering her face which was displaying a dark shade of red. She couldn't deny that because she said it herself back there.
And she wasn't exaggerating, she cared about Mitsuki. She cared about him a lot.
"Hn..."
He heard her before, but as she said it again, Mitsuki's feelings became all scrambled, all over the place. He stood up when he felt anxious about what he was about to say
"Chouchou... I cannot change who I'm the son of or any member of my family..."
"Not even the fact I will probably never be close to what a real human is."
"That's part of me and who I am, and I came to accept it."
His voice broke a little when he said
"But if any of these things bother you..."
"Then what?"
Chouchou was now standing too, looking at him directly even if he was not looking at her, his view planted on the floor
"It is true I was scared at first when I found out, but mainly because I thought Orochimaru-san was some kind of villain..."
Mitsuki frowned a little
"I cannot assure you they aren't villainous..."
"So? You are not him!"
Not being convinced, he still questioned
"What if I turn out to be that way in the future?"
With a bright smile, Chouchou was now pointing to Mitsuki's chest, not leaving any minute more in doubt
"Then I will tell you "Mitsuki, stop being ridiculous! The bad boy aura doesn't fit you at all!" and drag you out of wherever you are hiding in!"
"But I'm sure that scenario will never happen... Because..."
"That's not the kind Mitsuki I know."
Her eyes which always reflected confidence were doubtful at first when looking directly at the boy she had at her front, perhaps the cause was the sincerity of her words that won over her pride. Ultimately, she gifted him another smile, this time warmer and gentler.
The blue-haired boy just looked back, his lips parted briefly.
He did not say a thing.
All that Mitsuki could feel was immense joy and gratitude for being accepted for who he really was by the one he wanted to be together with the most. A joint of a warm bubbling feeling and accelerated heartbeats accompanied that need that he had been fighting for so long. Mitsuki went for his selfish desires and this time fear or shame would get in his way.
"Chouchou..."
His face gently pressed against the top of her head, as his long arms wrapped around her whole, holding her as his most precious treasure, he called her name again dearly
"...Chouchou."
Finally, with a lower paused voice, he added
"Thank you... For being my friend."
As his embrace became tighter and his face dug even more against her head, Chouchou felt as if she was losing strength in her legs, her weight giving in. From her trembling lips, something brief was muttered
"Oh..."
Mitsuki realized this, and even if he didn't really want to, he broke the embrace to look into Chouchou better
"Sorry, did I hurt you?"
She didn't react at first but then she shook her head
"N-no! You didn't!"
"I just need to sit a bit, haha..."
Chouchou let gravity do its thing when she barely sat on her flower-shaped pillow. She quietly confessed
"You surprised me."
Mitsuki guessed it could be because of all they had gone through during the day, maybe Chouchou was tired
"Then maybe I should part. It's getting late after all."
"Hn..."
He gave a brief nod, looking to the side feeling he needed something more, but that something wasn't really clear to him, so he turned over ready to leave. That's when he heard Chouchou
"Mitsu...!"
"T-thank you! I mean... You know!"
She shyly looked at him ignoring her evident embarrassment by holding a strand of her auburn hair between her fingers, until she finally said
"For being my friend too."
He knew it was the case but it always felt good to him when she confirmed what he suspected.
Mitsuki turned to see his friend one last time that night and brought instinctively his hands to his face as soon as he felt he was about to laugh. A short but clean laughter that reflected all the joy his body wasn't able to contain. A bright smile was offered to her at the end before he nodded and said
"Sweet dreams, Chouchou."