I'm not afraid of werewolves or vampires or haunted hotels, I'm afraid of what real human beings to do other real human beings.
Walter Jon Williams
Hinata was attracted to him, he smelt so hormonal she had just wanted to get closer and closer to him. It was almost like fox, a snow fox even, but it wasn't a bad smell, it was tantalising, stroking her taste buds because she could taste it in her mouth. It was sensual, almost sexual, mixed with his Lynx body wash and the soft sweat ( He must have ran to the coffee shop). Then she could pick up the peppermint toothpaste, she couldn't tell the brand, after all, most peppermint toothpaste smelt the same.
And then he had an energy field that shook her to the core.
Even the air around him resonated with energy vibrating the air molecules into a flurry, like an invisible heat.
It was almost barbaric, the things she was thinking about just because he was attracting her so badly, now she was out of that trance, she wondered what that exactly was, even if he knew . But she had better things to worry about. Namely the fact that his ignorant friend, who had just witnessed the entire accident was now looking at her with horror and dread.
First he did a double take, then he almost turned and ran, and then, he thought the better for it, turning to face her with a bewildered, wary, but…almost concerned look.
"Look…I came to…see if you were all right…You're not going try anything are you?"
Hinata shook her head, almost sending a splatter of blood in his direction. He still looked confused. "What's with the fangs?"
She tilted her head, looking down on the mortal and seeing nothing but a shell of a person. Something that made her wearisome of this man, because, after all, if a person had no real feeling, why would they waste the effort to care for others who still retained their last shards of humanity? Or for that matter, protected them with a ferocity.
She could kill him here and now if she felt like it. She could kill everyone here, and tell her father that she was covering her own tracks, and he would probably disrespect that decision, and tell her she shouldn't have messed up in the first place.
But then Hinata would have lost her first human friend she had had in the last decade, which was an awfully long time. After all, all that had happened the last time she had kept a friend, everything had gone wrong, in a very literal sense. Sakura was nice, perky, fun, and Hinata thought they both needed one another at LL, though for different reasons.
Hinata wanted to be around her, but it was, well, jarring in the knowledge that each time Hinata saw her, Sakura aged. Whether it was a weekend, a night, one lunch period, Hinata could sense the change in Sakura, a new spot becoming more prominent, her hair growing longer, her nails, even to the point where she could sense how many hairs were growing on her head, and how many had fallen out.
That was why she tried to keep her distance from any girls at school. It wasn't funny how sensitive Hinata was to the rest of the world, whilst the rest of the family were extraordinarily thick skinned. It was like nobody really understood the feelings she experienced.
But she needed, and had come to acknowledge the fact that she did need a companion. As long as her family didn't bother about her having a human friend, It was nothing to worry about. And Hinata could sense Sakura needed an ally against the awful, spoilt girls at LL. Sakura had a bright future ahead of her, she had a good attitude, and she was clever. Hinata could stand in as a friend.
But now she had to stand peacefully with the older friends, or as Hinata really thought of the two, the "in laws".
A hair had fallen out of Uchiha-san's head whilst she had seen him last. He was a shell, but he was refilling upwards again, creating another persona. She decided to give him a chance to become a higher status in her eyes.
"I'm s-so sorry, I-I got to close… my fangs came out…I've ripped a part of my lip" , she showed him her lip, it's pink texture overshadowed by the maroon red blood spilling from a puncture.
"Right." He replied with authority, still looking at her fangs. He furrowed his brow, fighting with himself.
"Whatever you're going to say, you'd better be o-off saying it Uchiha-san"
"Hn… are you a vampire?"
"Eto, yes,"
"Do you mean any harm to the two of them, Sakura, Naruto?"
"Ano…I never meant harm to them, but Naruto… he's irresistible! I blush and I poke my fingers, and, oh, I'm getting hot and flustered just thinking about the entire thing," Hinata looked away, blushing ferociously, thinking of the incident.
"Well, that's a first,"
"Hn?" She tilted her head sideways, like a doll with huge emotional eyes.
"It's the first time a girl has liked the idiot. Of course, you're a vampire, so there has to be something wrong with you," he smirked, almost looking at her dubiously before rigidly correcting himself.
"I think Sakura-san likes him…" Sasuke looked at her oddly, "She's developed feelings for him, it's obvious, she wouldn't hit him like that otherwise-she has to care somewhat about him, to put that effort into hurting him. It's that simple…"
"Doesn't she like me though," he put to her bluntly.
"Yes… but I sense that she's grown fearful of rejection. Especially from you, and Uzamaki-San would happily spend his loveon her, whist you would be cold, unresponsive to her, It would be like loving a statue… like the Greek myth, hn?"
"And you've picked that up from two minutes of our company?"
"Some of it I have gleamed from Sakura-san, she really cares and talks about you both, most of the other details are precise and right, yes, it's a skill,"
He sighed, long and grumbling whilst she smiled happily, forgetting the flow of blood dripping down her chin, and the sharp curve of the white fangs, that were pointing downwards in a sadistic twist, irritating, and not that he would ever say, creeping him out "How do we get rid of the fangs?"
"I could drink some blood,"
"Oh, Should I have to volunteer?" He asked, his brow twisting into a sadistic smirk and his ego unfurled it's rather large wings.
"No- I'm o-on the pill,"
"…This comes into the conversation how?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry, please, please don't take offence," she bowed again and again. "It's a blood pill, a blood pill, Uchiha-San! A blood-pill,"
The dark haired boy glowered under his ebony bangs. "Please, Uchiha-San, could you do a favour for me, please?
Sasuke almost considered saying no to see her heart shaped face loose it's pretty charm he was sure she was employing. "My pills are in my bag, on the seat I left, please, could you bring my bag to me…"
He shrugged and left, and went down to where Sakura and Naruto were having a conversation about Kakashi's Biology skills, and the Biology teacher at LL, Tsunade-sama, who was also headmistress, who had told Sakura she had the smarts to become a doctor.
Well, least Sakura didn't have to worry about career choices then.
"Oh my Gosh, is Hinata okay Sasuke?"
"Tell her I'm like, really sorry,"
"Its just a knocked tooth, neither of you should really bother to worry, since it's such a pathetic injury in it's own sense,"
"…Why are you taking her bag?" Asked Naruto
"She's got pills for pain relief,"
"Oh right," Naruto looked dense again, and in front of Sakura too. Sasuke couldn't prevent the thought that Naruto kept on repeating the same beginners mistakes over and over again, and refused to learn any lessons.
Which was a pity, because maybe Naruto and Sakura could work out. He wasn't the cleverest guy, but she was the cleverest girl, and where she lacked in physique, Naruto was fit enough to provide reparations. They were both loud, opinionated people, who clashed every time they were together. -But it never got old. And for Sasuke, it was quite entertaining when they did clash, and ruffle one another's feathers, just for the comical value of their faces.
But sometimes…it was like he was wasting his life with these two. He didn't know what to do, his layout of the world had once been so simple, that he had wanted to be a police officer. Now, he didn't know. His phobia, which bordered on borderline obsession with blood, almost made him want to do something like forensic science, or even a detective, which linked into the police officer dream.
But Sasuke doubted he could stand that, knowing the awful things that happened all too often, all too well. He become consumed by that job, paranoid and enthralled by what he would be doing everyday.
He didn't like to think about it, and chucked the stupid tote bag at her, dishing out his anger on her.
"Thank you very m-much," her tongue tripping over herself in her rush to express herself. She pulled out a pill, and Sasuke visibly blanched looking at it.
It was just about that shape of a peanut and that size too, and Sasuke couldn't imagine trying to swallow it, just imagining the pain of that pill jammed down his throat was enough to make him gag.
It was also red, and transparent, reminding him that it was, indeed, a blood pill, and a very apt name at that.
He waited for her to swallow it, expecting her to cup her hands for some water, and swallow it like that. Instead she bit into it, sucking it dry and her eyes crinkled into some twisted display of enjoyment. An off spurt flew onto her cheek, staining her face.
Then, once it was totally dry, she slit it open with a fingernail, an lapped it up, and then noticing the wetness of the blood on her cheek, with a finger, dabbed the blood of her cheek, popping it into that petite mouth, sucking it with enjoyment, looking as innocent a child with a lollipop.
It was a good thing that they were in the toilet, because Sasuke was violently sick, unable to prevent the splurge of acidic stomach content from rising up his mouth like a piston pumping out the bile from his body.
"Ano, Uchiha-San, you don't enjoy the sight of blood, yes?" As giggles fell uncensored from her mouth, her fangs receding in size.
Between retches, he found his sarcastic reply," No duh"
Admittedly, he could have done much better, but it had the correct response to make the girl blush and apologise. "Can we get out of here?" he muttered darkly.
"Of course Uchiha-San, where do you want to go?"
"Home," he murmured, still recovering from vomiting so badly.
"Ano…"
"What?" He snapped, moody and exhausted.
"Do we have to say goodbye to Sakura-San, and well…Uzumaki-San, I mean…it would be impolite…and I don't know whether I can control myself…"
"Neither of them have bothered to check you are okay, since they are too busy arguing with each other, Don't bother, just use my phone to say I'm talking you home,"
"Oh ok," He handed her the iPhone, their hands almost touching for a second as she twisted her wrist to catch the falling headphones. She tapped the screen, confident in her abilities, only to falter, her face twisted with worry. Weren't phones supposed to be easy to use? Why wouldn't the thing do anything?
And she couldn't really consider talking to Sasuke because he would think she was stupid. And then he was heaving again, trying to bring up more food whilst in reality his stomach was empty, and he was just spitting out saliva. Ah, such lovely human things.
She tapped her finger on the screen again, expecting another response. It had to be on, there was light emanating from the screen. She felt round the edges, looking for a pullout touchpad that as she was aware of, often came with these contraptions.
Then she felt the black eyes of the Uchiha by the toilet bore into her back, and the all too familiar sarcastic and sadistic smirk burned into the back of her head, awakening that slumbering blush.
"You do realise you unlock it… switch on the top…" His voice was filled with animosity, like she was a lesser form of life due to her lack of interaction with technology.
Hinata hid her face behind her bangs to hide her heated face at making such a elementary mistake. "I knew that!" she squeaked.
Sasuke would have made a derogatory comment, but he retched and went back to trying to throw up.
For a moment Hinata looked at him, almost admiring his face, which was pale and tinted with grey, matching his ebony hair, which glinted and gleamed under the flickering toilet light. As if sensing her lilac eyes resting on his head he turned, bags developing under bloodstained eyes. His pupils were unidentifiable against his black eyes, but they were empty.
Normally when Hinata saw someone she could identify the best things about them, the most beautiful parts jumped to attention, like Sakura's flyaway candyfloss hair, it's wisps floating in the air, or Naruto's cerulean blue eyes, so present on his face, or his birth-mark whiskers, or his nose, or…well, she was starting to get carried away. But Sasuke was so evenly beautiful, even when sick, his presence was… ugly.
Well to her it was, but considering her condition and hyper-sensitivity, that wasn't surprising. To anyone normal they would have found him utterly handsome. No wonder Sakura was dragging her feet on the path to Naruto when Sasuke sat on the layside.
Sasuke stared at her , wondering why she didn't blush like any other girl, but instead frowned a little, or rather pulled her smile downwards in a display of displeasure. She twisted her head around, whipping the air with her hair.
She managed to find the number on a list that automatically came up by accident.
"Moshi Moshi! Sakura isn't here at the moment! If you've got something to say, talk to the machine, after all, machines need love too, Kyaaa!"
"Oh, oh, Hinata-San here, Sasuke isn't feeling wel-argh!" He wrangled the phone off of her, his hand slightly wet, which Hinata decided it would be better not to wonder how.
"Hinata's not well, I'm taking her home," Said Sasuke, ending the message in a rough and hoarse voice, his throat tight and sore.
"Why did you take the phone!?" Asked Hinata, her voice high pitched and almost squeaking.
"Never show weakness willingly, It's pathetic," He grumbled.
Hinata was sure if he would grant her a few more seconds she could think of a perfect comment, but Sasuke grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her out, sneaking through the café, as Naruto and Sakura were preoccupied.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!"
"I SAID TICKLE! TICKLE SAKURA-CH-"
"YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO JIGGLE ME WHERE!"
"SAKURA-CHAN NO!"
Sasuke almost sighed before constraining himself. "You shouldn't bottle up emotions, like that…even you must have some kind of outlet," Hinataspoke, the words almost hitting a nerve as they walked out, into the street.
"I'm not taking advice from a bloody vampire," He sniped back.
*Note From Clue*
Thank you very much for the kind reviews, it really gets me going when people are as kind to say something in return, especially If they are a bit critical. I've made this chapter a little less serious to try and improve the tone, and I think I like Sasuke when he isn't feeling well :) I'm also trying out a bit of NaruSaku in the background, but It won't be prominent (So don't worry if you hate it, I won't make a big deal out of the entire thing.)
Oh, and I've had hysterics when I thought this guy said he wanted to tickle/jiggle me, and the first time I tried using an iPhone, instead of calling my Dad, I ended up playying an app for at least half an hour :) Real life stuff, see~
Thanks for reading!