une.
When Kushina was twenty, she met Minato.
She had been on her way to Mikoto's birthday party—which, of course, was a surprise, because Mikoto would totally (pretend to) not appreciate a party in a bar. And, as always, she was running late. She didn't really understand why she'd always forget to do something before she had an appointment; this time, she had forgotten Mikoto's present.
So, she had run back to her apartment, grabbed it off her dining table, where she had put it in the morning, in hopes that she wouldn't forget it.
The present was a darling necklace, one with a raindrop pendant on it. When she had seen it in the window the other day, Kushina knew that it was just meant for Mikoto. Which is why she had bought it with a month's paycheck and hoped that Mikoto would love her for it.
(Not that she's tell Mikoto how much it had cost, because then she's freak and insist on paying Kushina back.)
She was running down the street, pushing her red hair out of her face, praying that they hadn't surprised Mikoto just yet, because, as Mikoto's best friend, Kushina had to be there at that opportune moment, when she bumped into a street lamp.
Not a person, mind you. Just a very dignified street lamp.
She fell onto the floor, where she lay for two minute, wondering whether she should just go home after such an embarrassing event. Maybe she had gotten a concussion or something. Wouldn't that be the pits?
Just as she was thinking this, about to close her eyes, she noticed a hand on top of her. It was reaching towards her face. It was a really nice hand too, Kushina couldn't help thinking. Big, and long-fingered, covered with calluses.
"Are you alright?" the man attached to the hand said. Kushina's gaze rested on him and wished she'd never stop looking at him.
He was tall, taller than Mikoto, which meant he was definitely taller than her. He had hair the color of sunshine, and eyes the color of the sky. They twinkled in half-hilarity, half-worry as he stared at her. "Excuse me?" he asked hesitantly. Then he reached behind her and pulled her up, inspecting the back of her head. "Are you alright?" he repeated.
His voice was very nice, she noticed. Smooth and low.
"I'm alright," she said and smiled at him. "Perfectly fine. This kind of thing happens all the time." Realizing that that probably made her seem like a clumsy fool, she hastened to explain. "I mean, you know, I just need to pay more attention, since I get lost in my thoughts all the time."
When he smiled at her in amusement, she almost died inside, then understood that she wasn't helping her case, and shut up, grinning sheepishly.
"Well, be careful," he said, standing up. She had to crane her neck up. "I wouldn't want something like that to happen again."
He walked away, unaware that he had just made Kushina fall in love with him.
notes: i love minakushi and fugamiko. like. so much.
