Title: Car trip
Author: Tuliharja
Summary: AU. A strange woman forces Tobirama to give her a lift into town. Tobirama isn't that happy about it at first, but in the end he doesn't regret his decision at all. One-shot. Tobirama&OC
Disclaimer: NARUTO belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I'm merely writing fan fiction about it.
Author's note: This one-shot fits in the same universe as 'Art photograph' but you don't have to read it to understand this one. Thank you StepTaichou for betaing this.
.:Car trip:.
"Nooo!" could be heard from the bus stop near the parking lot where Tobirama had earlier that day parked his car. Lifting his brow, he turned toward the bus stop where he could now see a woman on all fours, obviously crying. Somehow, the scene reminding him an awful lot of something that Hashirama would do. A shiver went down Tobirama's spine as he quickly turned away from the scene. But it was already too late –he had been spotted.
"Oh! I know you! You're-…you're-…!" The same woman stuttered, obviously trying to find Tobirama's name from somewhere in her mind, though Tobirama was quite sure that woman didn't know him. Yet the woman kept stuttering until she cried aloud: "It's Rama!"
"IT'S TOBIRAMA!" Tobirama shouted back to the woman, losing his all collected coolness as the situation was getting more and more bizarre by every passing minute. It wouldn't have been that bad if people hadn't already stopped and started whispering in hushed tones while watching them. It was obvious that the sight of both Tobirama and that odd woman would be their day's fill of laughter.
Usually Tobirama didn't care what people thought or even voiced about him, but somehow that woman reminded him too much Hashirama. His idiotic smile, his friendly aura and moping-attitude that could easily push Tobirama's buttons the wrong way and make him detonate. Even though he was normally a master of coolness and sassiness, his big brother could easily make Tobirama look like a fool despite the fact that Hashirama was the fool and not Tobirama. And here he was, getting humiliated by a woman.
"Please take me with you!" The woman begged as she quickly approached Tobirama, making the white-haired male take a step back –just to get stopped by his car.
"No," was Tobirama's gruff reply as he eyed the woman who he noticed was extremely small for her age. Even though Tobirama couldn't be sure about how old the woman was, he could see from her face that she was an adult, although she barely reached his shoulder's height. The woman was simply just tiny.
"Bu-but the bus to town already went and the next one doesn't come until midnight!" the woman cried as she looked into Tobirama's eyes with her honey-colored ones. Tobirama couldn't help but notice the awkward eye contact as the woman kept looking him straight in the eyes, which made him turn rudely away.
"Get a taxi," he bluntly answered, while watching how some of the gossiping people had already left as the drama had obviously settled a bit.
"Bu-but I don't have enough money for where I'll go…" The woman told now sad tone which irritated Tobirama. He wasn't a knight in shining armor and wouldn't become one just because some woman had missed her bus!
"Then call someone," Tobirama said, looking from the corner of his eye at the woman who looked sadly down. He also couldn't miss the fact the woman had crazy long hair. So long, it touched the ground briefly when the woman tilted her head back. Tobirama couldn't help but blink at this. No one could have such a long hair…expect some shoujo-manga girls. The woman must have hair extensions; even Tobirama couldn't begin to fathom why someone would get as long hairpieces as the woman front of him. Yet before he could carry on his train of thought any longer the woman locked onto his eyes once again.
"I just came to this town," the woman eventually said in a small tone which made Tobirama sigh. Running his hand through his hair, he measured up the woman.
"Then how do you know me? I could be some sort of psycho that will drug you and then rape you and in the end slice you into tiny pieces before throwing you in some dumpster," Tobirama pointed out as the woman's face grew pale from his words. Tobirama wondered if he had just caused mental trauma to this woman. Not that he cared, though if the woman sued him then he would. Some people and their crazy lawsuits that they would make when they felt someone had done something wrong toward them.
"Be-because I know your friend," the woman stuttered while looking up at Tobirama's face. "And the way he talks about you implies that you aren't psycho rapist who goes around killing innocent women."
Lifting his eyebrow once again, Tobirama tilted his head towards her.
"Which friend are we talking about?" He asked as he had very few friends and most of them he wouldn't even call his friend.
"U-Uchiha Izuna," came the woman's quick reply which made Tobirama turn toward his car and take his keys out, finally deciding to leave. "Don't leave me!"
The woman suddenly grabbed Tobirama's back, which made the Senju turn his head menacingly towards the woman. If looks could kill, the woman would have been dead twice. Whimpering, she let go of him and quickly took a few steps backwards.
"I…I can pay you! Just please take me to the town! Even the outskirt is okay! I just have to get there before nightfall," the woman begged, getting down on her knees and placing her hands together like you would in a prayer.
Eyebrow twitching, Tobirama quickly looked around before grabbing hold of the woman's arm. After that he proceeded to drag and pull her to the car's passenger side before opening the door for her.
"Get in and shut up," Tobirama ordered as the woman gave him a thankful smile.
"Thank you," she thanked before she got inside the car while Tobirama positioned himself behind the driving wheel.
As soon as the pair had placed their seatbelts on Tobirama started the car's engine before pulling onto the road to the town. Silence settled between the duo. However, silence didn't last that long as the woman turned her head toward Tobirama.
"I'm Fujioka Michiko," Michiko introduced herself, which made Tobirama resist the urge to snort. The woman's first name's second character 'chi' didn't suit at all to her, as it meant 'wisdom'. If anything, the third suited her best so far, the 'ko' which meant 'child'.
"Senju Tobirama," came the Senju's flat reply. He didn't make a move to continue the conversation.
"Thanks again for taking me to town. Without you I would have had to sleep under the sky…" Michiko spoke in a quiet tone as Tobirama gave her a questioning look. As far as Tobirama knew, there was motel near where he had run into Michiko, although he couldn't be sure. After all, Tobirama had merely been visiting one of his father's business partners' office that was pretty much in the middle-of-nowhere, although fairly busy. Usually Tobirama wouldn't have been sent away from the town to meet some business partners, as he was still training in his father's law company, but today had been different; both his father and Hashirama had been busy with some big clients so he was only option left.
"Um, Tobirama-san?" Michiko's words cut Tobirama's train of thought again today. He glared at her with cold eyes, making her flinch slightly.
"Sorry, I was just thinking…" Tobirama muttered his apology before flushing a bit. There wasn't any need to apologize to the woman, let alone get embarrassed over it!
"Oh, it's okay. After all I pretty much invited myself into your car…" Michiko forgave silently, looking out the window. "It's just…my onee-sama has warned me about shady motels and such, so the very idea about staying alone in such places scares me. That's stupid, isn't it?"
Seeing the reflection of her somewhat sad face made Tobirama huff slightly.
"It's not stupid. It just proves that your onee-sama cares about you greatly," Tobirama pointed out, which made Michiko let out a small 'oh' sound.
After that silence settled down again between the duo, it feeling more relaxed than before. Maybe it was because of the fact that Tobirama had some sort of an idea about who this strange woman was and why she insisted on him taking her to the town. But there was still one, tiny detail nagging his mind…
"Where you-…"
"I know-…"
For a moment they both blinked their eyes rapidly as they had just chosen same time to speak. Michiko giggled lightly. Sighing, Tobirama briefly closed his eyes before removing his hand from the steering wheel for a moment to gesture for Michiko to carry on.
"You can talk first," he said as he placed his hand back to the steering wheel.
"Oh no. Since I'm just passenger who invited themselves rudely into your car, you must say it first," Michiko quickly said back which made Tobirama lift a silver brow at her.
"…Are you mocking me?" he asked carefully, making Michiko stutter something incoherent that sounded like "No, not at all! I'm sorry!" which only made Tobirama sigh yet again.
"Look, stop…stop freaking out every second. If I truly hadn't wanted you in my car I would have left you there without a second thought or regret," he reassured.
The white-head really wasn't good at comforting people, unlike Hashirama. That was possibly one of the reasons why Tobirama didn't have that many friends (it made him feel better to call them friends rather than acquaintances, which most of them were). All in all, Tobirama was more or less an ass towards other people, but it hadn't ever bothered him. Not until now.
Tobirama stole a glimpse from Michiko who was surprisingly looking at him wordlessly, with a small smile upon her lips. Quickly, Tobirama turned his gaze back to the road, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Well, I was going to say I know you because of Izuna-kun, just like I already told you. But the reason I know Izuna-kun is because we study at the same University. Even though our majors are different, we still know each other because my onee-sama," Michiko told him in a soft tone, which allowed Tobirama relax a bit. "I guess that was what you were going to ask from me, wasn't it?"
The white-haired male only nodded silently, waiting for Michiko to carry on because he knew that she would. But somehow, he didn't feel so annoyed about her anymore. Maybe it was because of his long day, or Michiko's soft tone that made him relax or maybe he had finally lost it, but he allowed himself to listen to Michiko's musings during their trip to the town. He heard about how Michiko is studying acrobatics which made Tobirama a bit taken aback as he didn't know you could actually study such things.
He listened while she tells him that she knows she most likely won't join a circus, but she would probably become some sort of gym teacher, the woman giving a soft laugh as she recited her aspirations. The laugh was airy and soft, filled with dreams and hopes that knew reality.
In the end Tobirama told her a little bit about himself, about how he studies law and wishes to become a lawyer. He talks about how he has always liked logical things, so studying law came natural to him. But in the end he doesn't manage to say that much about himself as Tobirama noticed that he has already driven them to Izuna's studio as the evening sun was casting its final rays on them.
The white-haired male watched as Michiko exited the car, thanking him.
"Thank you for the ride Tobirama-san! I'll surely pay it back to you one day!" she told him just as she was about to shut the car's door but was stopped by Tobirama's expectant hand.
"Number," he said, which earned a confused look from Michiko. "Your phone number."
"Oh. Oh!" she exclaimed, flushing a bit as she rummaged through her bag before writing on a piece of paper. Yet before she gave it to him, she tilted her head. "You…you will call me then?"
A thick, annoyed mark appeared on Tobirama's forehead which made Michiko laugh lightly as Tobirama snatched the paper from her before reaching over and forcefully closing the door. Tobirama then watched as Michiko went into Izuna's studio.
While he was watching her, he noticed that Michiko's first name's first character 'Mi' truly described her, the word 'beautiful'.
Blinking his eyes, Tobirama once again flushed deeply as he suddenly realized why Michiko was so surprised when he had asked for her phone number. Pressing his forehead softly against the steering wheel, Tobirama muttered to himself, "Idiot, idiot, idiot."
He stayed like that for a while before getting disturbed by a knock on the car's window. He looked up only to be greeted by a smug looking Uchiha's face. Furrowing his brows, Tobirama pushed down the button that opened the car's window.
"I heard you had quite a time with Mi-chan~!" Izuna said teasingly, only making Tobirama's flush deepen before he shouted, "Shut up Uchiha!"
This only earnt a heartfelt laugh from Izuna as Tobirama quickly shut his window, before proceeding to drive away.
OWARI.