Unlike Poles | Seven
"Hey, would you help me take a look at these accounts? I can't make any damn sense of 'em."
Tossing down his pen in exasperation, Kiba slouches over to stand by the side like a guilty child, allowing Hinata to take his seat at the table, her lower lip pinched softly between her teeth.
He lets out a sigh as he watches his girlfriend pore over the sheets of paper scattered across the desk, the ends of her dark hair brushing the wooden surface. He's fairly certain that this isn't what he signed up for when he decided to try his hand at setting up his own company—in some ways, this is even harder than doing physical labour every day.
"Oh, I've got it." Barely a moment passes before Hinata looks up with a smile and waves him over. "There's just a tiny mistake over here…" He leans over her, resting his chin on the top of her head lightly as he frowns down at the jumble of numbers. With her seemingly eternal patience, she begins to explain the problem to him, just as she has been doing for the past couple of weeks.
This is nothing more than child's play for her, he's come to realize. After all, this shabby old building and its half dozen employees—most of them old friends in the profession who he managed to cajole into placing some faith in him—can hardly be compared to the running of the massive Hyuga Corp.
All the same, he can't help but be proud of what he's achieved—three years of saving and planning, along with a whole lot of advice from the woman in his life, and he can be called a big boss now. Well, kind of.
"This is why I never went to college," he mumbles under his breath, rolling his eyes as he prepares to take another look at the accounts. Hinata chuckles, planting a kiss on his cheek before returning to her seat on the couch set against the wall. That's where she has been running Hyuga Corp from most of the time since he finally got started up, choosing this stuffy old room with bad ventilation and even worse lighting in favour of her well-lit, air-conditioned office in a skyscraper with a magnificent view.
He's more grateful for her presence that he can ever express. No other girl would even have had the patience to try to turn his life around like she has.
The time inches by as he slowly sorts out his client lists, calculates their expenses, estimates their profit for the month—and finally, at a quarter to six, he gets to ease his pounding headache by replacing all the files on their shelves for another night.
Immediately rejuvenated, he leaps to his feet, crossing over to Hinata in a few steps and pulling her up into a hug. "Ready for a romantic dinner, kitten?" he asks, raising his brows and shooting her a mischievous grin.
"You really aren't going to tell me where we're going?" She pouts sweetly as he leads her downstairs and into his trusty old car, but he remains unswayed—he's had a lot of practice with that over the years, and even if he does still waver at times, it's only because she's too irresistible to be true.
"Of course not, it's a surprise!" he chides. "You're going to love it, so be patient."
He's rather proud of himself, actually. It's not a huge event or anything like that—in fact, it's rather simple—but he has a feeling Hinata will like it anyway. Or at least, she'll very kindly pretend to.
The ride to their destination is comfortably quiet. Hinata is still occupied answering emails that require her attention even after working hours, which is nothing new to both of them, so Kiba occupies himself by humming along to the latest pop song playing on the radio. The silence is all-encompassing, but far from empty.
When they arrive, it takes Hinata a moment to regain her bearings, and Kiba watches with bated breath as she looks around for a long moment, squinting a little at her surroundings, before a delighted smile brightens her face. She swivels to face him, reaching out to grab his hand.
"We're eating at the beach?" she exclaims, possibly overlooking the fact that the sun is setting and they won't be able to see very much in an hour or so.
"No, we're eating over the beach." Kiba grins and points to the building beside them, a quaint little restaurant overlooking the dark waves and pale sand.
If possible, Hinata looks even more excited at that prospect. "This is…this is great, Kiba-kun." And those simple words fill him with just as much joy as the way she flings herself at him for a bone-crushing hug.
They eat a simple meal out in the open, chatting easily as the sea breeze whispers past them, carrying the sound of the distant crash of waves against sand. The only light is electric rather than candle, but Kiba feels like he's made a good call with the venue all the same, especially as he watches Hinata turn to look at the white-capped waves. Her glimmering eyes reflect the endless darkness of the sea, transfixing him just as the ocean has done to her.
He reaches across the table, interlacing his fingers with hers and waiting until she finally turns to face him again, her features soft with affection. "Happy anniversary, kitten," he says quietly.
She returns his smile, a rare flash of levity crossing her features. "This is the best anniversary dinner yet. I don't see how you're going to top this next year," she teases gently.
His only response is a mysterious shrug, accompanied by an unworried smirk. "Well, you'll just have to wait and see what I come up with then, won't you?"
Not that he's saying it yet, but he's sort of hoping they might just have a different anniversary to commemorate by the time the following year comes by.
