One shot for Fanofthisfiction's "Show Me The Love" challenge AND a gift fic for Umnia, who gave me the three words "angel, demon, and complication" for inspiration. Written in four hours on a train on my iPad:) Sweet SasuHina fluff.
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COMPLICATED ANGELS and LOVELY DEMONS
Hinata sweeps her flour-dusted hair off her sweaty forehead and pours herself a tall plastic cup of Coke with extra ice from the machine behind the counter. Through the storefront windows, heat shimmers off the Boston sidewalks, and though the air conditioning is pumping full blast and the ovens have long since cooled, Hinata is sure the humidity is seeping through the cracks in the windows and invading the bakery. It certainly isn't coming through from the open door; there hasn't been a customer in over an hour.
She's tried busying herself with wiping down counters and arranging and rearranging the cupcakes according to color, but she's too hot and tired to do anything else. Not even sneaking a snickerdoodle or chocolate chip cookie, which is saying something.
She chugs her drink and eyes the clock, one of those creepy cartoon cats whose eyes and tail move in unison, and she scowls. It's past four, and Permafrown hasn't come in for his two glazed doughnuts.
Her sister clasps Hinata's shoulder, and Hinata jumps.
"Can I have a cupcake?" Hanabi asks.
Hinata coughs, dislodges the ice cube in her throat, and scowls at her sister. "You know dad would kill us."
Hanabi twirls, steals Hinata's cup of ice and pops a cube in her mouth. "He doesn't have to find out."
Hinata only arches an eyebrow; they both know their father checks and double-checks the inventory versus the cash register at the end of the day, down to the smallest sugar cookie. Hinata is on strict snickerdoodle probation for the rest of the week, which sours her mood even further.
Hanabi moans and fills the cup with Sprite. "It's so unfair."
Hinata's lips quirk with the hint of a smile. "You've already been busted twice this week. Just have one of the day olds."
Her sister gasps as if insulted and chugs her soda, eyes flickering to the cat clock over the rim of her cup. "Hey, this is the fifth day in a row Frowny-Face hasn't come in for his glazed doughnuts."
"I thought we had settled on Permafrown."
"Oh yeah." Hanabi burps. "He's so good looking," she says dreamily, leaning on the counter. "He's got to be around your age. I'll bet he's single!" She waggles her eyebrows at Hinata suggestively.
Hinata sinks down into a chair, trying not to let her face fall. But her feelings must show, because Hanabi throws an ice cube at her head.
"Don't cry over Naruto again. That jerk dumped you two months ago. Time to move on, Sister."
Hinata doesn't say anything, just finds the ice cube on the floor before it turns into a mess and chucks it into the trash. She really doesn't want to revisit her failed relationship with her high school sweetheart again.
"He wasn't even that smart. And he left you for another girl!"
Hinata winces. "He didn't dump me," Hinata says through gritted teeth. "We had a mutual breakup. It's complicated, okay?" She wants to go into her usual lecture about how relationships don't always weather the transition from high school to college, especially when one party goes to Princeton on full scholarship and the other couldn't even manage to get into Boston College, and the distance, both physical and emotional, is too much for either of them; but it's too hot out, and anyway, Hinata can't even convince herself that it's all for the best, let alone her sister.
"He. Dumped. You." Hanabi chucks three more ice cubes at Hinata to enunciate every word.
The shop door opens with a jingle, sending in a blast of hot air and making the two girls jump.
"Kakashi-san!" Hinata greets, pleased to see one of their regular customers and to end the conversation.
"Black coffee and a lemon danish?" Hanabi asks with a grin.
"Of course," Kakashi says, scooting onto a stool and leaning on the counter. "But let's ice the coffee today."
The two sisters nod gravely and scramble to fill the order; Hinata adds in the usual free snickerdoodle, even though it pains her to part with it.
"Sorry," Kakashi says. "I only have a hundred-dollar bill. Do you have change?"
Hinata wipes her hands on her apron embroidered with cartoon angels with doughnuts for halos and inspects the register. Usually, their regular customers bring in plenty of smaller bills, and by this time of the day, they always have perfect change. But not today.
"We're low on change," Hinata says apologetically. She glances at her sister, who has been deemed too young for this task by their father, then looks out the window at the heat shimmering off the sidewalk. She sighs. "Let me run to the bank."
And before one of their best costumers can protest, as per their father's instructions, Hinata grabs a couple twenties, stuffs them into her apron pocket, and steps outside.
The heat hits her like a wall. She half-gasps, half-groans, and stumbles down the block.
By the time she makes it to the Wells Fargo, stray hairs are plastered to her face, and her clothes cling to her clammy skin. When she opens the bank doors at last, the air conditioning blasting her face makes her sag with happiness.
Though the line is long, she doesn't mind the wait in this cold heaven. Shoving her hair back into a ponytail, she resolves that this will be the last summer she works for her father at the shop; she'll either join her friends being camp counsellors where they swim in lakes all summer, or she'll work at a store with reliable AC that does not require her to wake up at four in the morning to bake cookies when it's already ninety degrees outside before the sun has even risen.
She's so caught up in her thoughts that when the drifting line brings her to the teller, she starts when she realizes it's her turn—and she recognizes the banker.
"Oh! It's Perma—I mean, it's y-y-you!" She flushes hotter than the asphalt buckling from the heat outside. She had almost called him his stupid nickname. She blinks at him, taking in his ever-present frown, his crisp suit and tie at odds with his unruly black locks sticking out at angles, and the name tag: Sasuke Uchiha.
"Um," she says, wishing the red carpeted floor would just open up and swallow her.
"Do I know you?" Sasuke asks, sounding bored.
"Um, y-yes. I m-mean, s-sort of." She sucks in a deep breath. "You usually buy two doughnuts at four o-clock," she blurts out, her blush deepening when she realizes she sounds like a stalker. At his confused look, she squeaks, "It's my f-f-family's sh-sh-shop. Just d-down the st-st-street? Um, Lovely Angel C-C-Cakes?"
"Oh. Right," Sasuke says, his tone flat.
Hinata, desperate to dig herself out of the awkward situation, says, "I would have b-b-brought you d-d-doughnuts. If I had r-realized." She smiles tightly and fidgets, unable to meet his eyes.
He snorts. "That won't be necessary. I don't like sweets."
"What?!" she shouts, her voice carrying. Someone in line behind her snickers, and Hinata can feel the heat in her face traveling down her neck.
Sasuke leans his elbow on the counter and rests his chin on his fist. "Can I help you with something?"
"Um, y-yeah, I, um..." She fishes the twenty dollar bills out of her apron, crumpling them in her clumsy hands. "Ch-change p-p-please."
He heaves an aggravated sigh and takes the money from her; when their fingers brush, she jumps a little.
As he counts out ones and fives, she clutches the counter. She knows it would be better to just be quiet, but she can't restrain herself.
"You, um, really d-don't like s-sweets?"
"No," Sasuke says with a scowl. He tries to hand her the money, but she doesn't take it right away.
"But—why did you buy d-doughnuts if you d-didn't like them?" She licks her lips.
He shoves the bills closer to her. When she still doesn't take them, he sighs. "They were for my girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend. Whatever."
Hinata's face falls. "Oh." She taps the counter nervously. "S-sorry."
He shrugs.
"I just broke up with my b-boyfriend, too," she says, tracing the fake wood grain with clammy fingers. "It sucks." She risks a glance up at him.
Surprisingly, his frown softens into something almost like a small smile. "Yeah," he says.
Hinata just stands there for a minute. He clears his throat.
"I should g-go," she says, taking the change. "Thanks. And—" She bites her lip. Before she can lose her nerve, she blurts out, "I'm sure there's something else at the bakery you'd like. St-stop by."
She can't tell if he's smiling or not; his lips seem to twist up, but it's so slight, she could be imagining it.
"Maybe," he says.
She nods and rushes away before she makes a bigger fool of herself and almost trips over her own feet. She pries open the bank doors and groans as the heat resumes punishing her.
"That took forever," Hanabi says when Hinata returns, drags herself to the soda machine, and revives herself from the dead with another Coke.
"Where's Kakashi?" Hinata gasps before pouring ice-cold soda down her throat.
"I told him to pay tomorrow," Hanabi says with a wave. "What happened? Are you okay?"
"Just h-h-hot," Hinata stammers, unwilling to tell her sister what happened.
Hanabi flops down at a table and cradles her head in her hands. "Today sucks. Maybe we should just close early."
"No!" Hinata says, a bit too loudly.
Hanabi eyes her. "Why not?"
"Um..." Hinata shrugs. "Dad would be m-mad."
"Mmm," Hanabi says. For a moment, Hinata thinks her sister will catch the lie, but instead, Hanabi pillows her head in her arms and a moment later, starts snoring.
Hinata takes her place behind the counter, and for the first time in her entire life, takes a critical look at their baked goods. From the eclairs to the cupcakes frosted with the Red Sox's emblem, everything is delicious—she knows, because she's helped bake them all.
The watermelon swirl cookies are her own invention, a basic sugar cookie with outrageous red and green frosting and chocolate chips used for the seeds. And the chocolate chip cookies are made with her mother's secret recipe, Hinata's favorite not only because they are sprinkled with cinnamon, but because they remind her of her long-dead mom and the many mornings they spent baking before school started.
But Hinata's never considered them from the perspective of someone who didn't like sweets; to be honest, she'd never met someone who didn't love baked goods. It just didn't seem possible. Would Sasuke like the orange zest pound cake? No, that would be too old-lady-ish. What about the butterscotch caramel cookies? Would they be too sweet? Maybe he'd like the spicy cayenne pepper brownies—or would that be too daring? Should she just stick with the classic chocolate chip cookies?
Hinata glances at the grinning cat clock and realizes that it's almost time to close. She's half relieved and half disappointed that he probably won't show up. But then she looks out of the window and her heart skips a beat.
"You look like you're going to be sick," Hanabi says, waking up from her nap at last. "Do you have heat stroke or something?"
Hinata can't answer, because the bakery door opens, letting in a hot gust of air and Sasuke Uchiha, his once spiky hair now limp and clinging to his face.
"Oh hey," Hanabi says before Hinata can gather her wits, "it's Permafrown." She yawns hugely.
Sasuke's frown deepens.
"Um, h-hi!" Hinata says, wishing she could throw something at her sister. "Th-thirsty?"
He sits down and rests his elbows on the counter. "Water, please."
Hanabi scoots past Hinata. "We have Coke and Dr. Pepper and—"
"Water," Sasuke says.
Hinata, not trusting herself to speak, fills a cup half with ice and half with water, which sloshes over the lip and splashes her because her hands are shaking so hard.
"Two glazed doughnuts?" Hanabi asks, dancing from foot to foot.
Sasuke shakes his head.
Hinata places the water on the counter, then wipes her damp hands on her apron.
"What do you want then?" Hanabi asks, a little miffed.
Sasuke looks at Hinata, which makes her heart flutter unsteadily. "I don't know."
"D-do you l-like chocolate?" Hinata squeaks.
Sasuke sips his water. "It's okay."
"I made the coconut caramel clusters today," Hanabi chirps.
Sasuke grimaces and half-stands from his chair, but Hinata, without thinking, puts her hand on his. They both jump a little, and Sasuke sits back down.
Hinata removes her hand quickly and clutches the edge of her apron. She forces herself to take a deep, even breath and says, "We have fig cookies. I think you'd l-like them." She is proud that she only stutters once.
"They're like Fig Newtons but awesomer," Hanabi offers.
Sasuke shrugs, unimpressed.
Hanabi pouts and crosses her arms over her chest, bunching up her apron decorated with dancing demons holding licorice pitchforks and fighting over a black-and-white cookie. "What's wrong with glazed doughnuts? You used to love them."
Hinata nudges her sister, hoping it will shut her up, and offers hurriedly, "What did you like when you were little?"
He arches an eyebrow.
"You know," Hinata says, starting to sweat, "d-did your m-mom ever b-bake you c-cookies?"
He glances away and stares down at the table.
"Um," Hinata says, worrying that she said something wrong, "my m-mom and I used to b-bake chocolate chip cookies together. They were so g-good, she and dad started this b-bakery back when we were little."
"You don't make them together anymore?" Sasuke asks. glancing up at her.
Now it is her turn to look away. "She died a couple years ago."
"Oh," Sasuke says.
Hinata has always hated the awkward quiet that follows this revelation. She ties and unties her apron strings, wishing she had never gone to the bank today.
"My mom never baked," Sasuke says, loosening his tie. "Or if she did, I don't remember. She died when I was five."
Hinata stuffs her hands into her apron pockets. She opens her mouth, but she can't think of anything to say, so she snaps her mouth shut again.
"Ugh, let's eat some cookies," Hanabi says. She slides open the back of the glass case and takes out three chocolate chip cookies. With deft, practiced movements, she plucks three paper napkins out of the dispenser, arranges the cookies, then opens the mini fridge under the counter and takes out the jug of milk with one hand and paper cups with the other. She pours for everyone, then lifts her paper cup as if in a toast. "To cookies!" She proclaims, taking her cookie, dunking it, then taking a huge bite.
Sasuke reaches for his wallet, but Hanabi glares at him. "It's on the house, Stupid. Eat your cookie!"
Hinata reels back in horror, but Sasuke barks a laugh. A smile transforms his face, and now Hinata can see why her sister thinks he's good looking. There is something charming about him... She feels her cheeks flushing and concentrates on breaking her cookie into small enough pieces to dunk.
"Thanks," Sasuke says, turning the cookie over and over in his hands, as if not sure what to do with it. Perhaps following her example, Sasuke breaks off a tiny piece of his cookie and dips it in his milk before taking a bite.
"Well?" Hanabi asks around a mouthful.
Sasuke shrugs. Slowly, methodically, he breaks up the cookie into small pieces, dunks them into his milk, and chews with a thoughtful look.
Nervous, Hinata stuffs her cookie into her mouth and gulps it down with milk, then fiddles with her paper cup while she waits for him to finish. By the time he's done, her cup has been worried into a shapeless lump.
"Well?" Hanabi says when he finishes. "Did you like it?"
He drinks the last of his milk and places his cup down on the counter. "I'll take a dozen," he says, his eyes meeting Hinata's.
She looks away quickly, cheeks heating, and hurries to fill his order. While Hanabi rings him up, Hinata sneaks glances at him, but it's impossible to tell what he's thinking.
Hinata hands him the box of cookies and their fingers brush. She bites her lip, her heart thudding in her chest.
He tucks the box under his arm, waves, and exits, the door jingling closed behind him.
"Oh, he likes you," Hanabi says, grinning widely and showing her chocolate-stained teeth.
"Don't be s-s-silly," Hinata says, turning away so Hanabi can't see her smile. She bites her lip. "Do you think he'll be back tomorrow?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Hanabi replies with a giggle. "I think we'll be seeing a whole lot more of Permafrown."
Hinata bites her lip again and thinks that maybe working at the bakery isn't so bad, even on a hot summer day.
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Thanks for reading:) I really want a cookie now... Please review:)