When Hinata's eyes fluttered open the next morning, the sight that greeted her was Gaara's sleeping face, centimeters away from hers, and he looked so peaceful. She quickly assessed her current situation; no unexpected cuddling, which was something she was so glad for. She couldn't handle the embarrassment, she might have been a little more comfortable in his presence, but to be hugging in their sleep would be too much, sleeping on the same bed was a little bit more than enough. For now.
What she quickly realized next, though, how both of them apparently shifted and rolled their positions a lot in their sleep that they ended up facing each other and so, so close. Too close. If she shifted a bit more, her nose would touch his. Before she could remedy the situation, his eyes fluttered open and immediately met hers, the closest thing in his line of sight.
And then there was that look on him, again. That disoriented, totally confused look that looked absolutely adorable. Hinata by now had noticed that Gaara always looked confused upon waking up, as if he didn't even know how and why he'd fallen asleep, as if he didn't know how he ended up in bed, and always waking up in new places for the past few days probably added to his confusion.
And people at school called him a demon?
If only they could see this Gaara. What an adorable demon.
And then, as Hinata also had noticed, roughly fifteen seconds later, he would realize who and where he was. She almost could visualize the clouds in his head clearing in the span of those fifteen seconds. 'Bless his soul'. Then he retracted his right hand from under her hands, which she hadn't realized at all, damn. But he didn't say anything and just got up, heading to the bathroom.
It was cold in the early morning thanks to the air from the AC that had been blowing all night long. Pulling the comforter higher up to her chin, Hinata decided to fall back asleep for a little bit more while she let Gaara use the shower first. This was heaven.
0o0
People greeted them when they went to grab their breakfast downstairs. Apparently, in a span of less than twelve hours, they were already quite famous in the inn as the runaway couple who eloped. Gaara totally ignored them while Hinata could only greet them back with a lot of awkward smiles. So how the hell did their story become the gossip of the inn's residents?
One particular stare, though, had been giving her quite the nasty stare. She could actually feel it stabbing the back of her neck. When she turned her head around, she found that it was from a girl around her age standing not too far from the inn's owner, near the kitchen's door, probably his daughter, judging from how they looked kind of alike. When the girls' gaze shifted to her red-haired male companion, though, it was far from nasty, judging from the pink tinting her cheeks. It was when Hinata finally realized that without the prejudice, Gaara was quite easy in the eyes. He was just a normal, good-looking boy.
But unless anyone was staring at him with murderous intent, Gaara didn't (wouldn't) notice them. His guard was so high that if he didn't sense any danger, he wouldn't decide it was worth his attention.
The food was good but it was not so easy to digest with someone's gaze burning her back. Gaara was just so blissfully unaware. Hinata decided that she wouldn't be the only one feeling uncomfortable.
"Gaara," she started, her voice soft but loud enough to earn his attention. Somehow she found that his cold eyes weren't so intimidating anymore. Or she was just used to it. He wordlessly told her to continue. "Someone's staring at you. The girl behind me."
She watched as his eyes flickered over and looked over her shoulder, then she heard a startled squeak from behind her. No doubt the girl had had an eyecontact with him. And he was concentrating on his breakfast again.
"I think she likes you." Still now words from the redhead. "She's been giving me nasty looks. I'd be dead by now, you know, if looks could kill."
He was actually far from being uncomfortable being blatantly stared at with heart eyes. "Just ignore her."
She didn't say anything when he got up, probably to get more food or another drink. Gaara returned with a bowl of cereal. The spoon was half way to his mouth when she said, "Aww you should've told me you were getting cereal."
"Tsk."
"Did you just 'tsk'at me?"
Gaara wordlessly slid his bowl of cereal over to her and stood up to get more for himself. Hinata almost gaped at his moment of begrudging, reluctant kindness. She found it quite touching, really. And now the two teenagers were peacefully eating cereal on a fine morning, at a family-run inn, on the outskirts of Suna.
0o0
Hinata spent the rest of her morning walking around and sightseeing. There was a small park nearby where she enjoyed the morning air. Gaara was nowhere to be found and he seemed to be on his phone a lot. They had agreed not to do anything in particular that day so she was planning to just spend it inside the inn.
Walking more around the block, she came across the convenience store she saw last night, the staff was just opening the store and starting the business for the day. The pub was, of course, still closed. She wondered if she'd get to explore the town some time while she was still here. She went back to her room as the sun rose high she no longer wanted to be outside, preferring to be in her air conditioned room. She pulled out her drawing tablet, deciding to finish drawing her art commissions. Hinata had decided that she'd open a few slots of simple art commissions online to increase her pocket money while on a runaway.
At afternoon, the door to their room opened. Gaara finally returned from god knows where. "There's someone I need to meet. But she wants to see you too."
She looked up from her work. "Why?" he shrugged. "Alright."
Gaara led her through shops after shops that lined the road. It was a bit of a far walking distance when they finally reached some sort of a coffee shop or a café. There was a woman who seemed to be in mid-twenties seated near the window, waving at them when they stepped inside.
"You two order something too. My treat!" said the woman. Hinata positively beamed.
They didn't say anything until Hinata and Gaara's orders came, one iced Americano and one iced long black. Hinata grabbed the bottle of liquid sugar that was already on the table, drizzling the content into her coffee. Gaara unexpectedly did the same. Hinata had always thought that Gaara was the 'strong black coffee without sugar without milk' kind of guy. But apparently, he wasn't.
"Mmmm~" she said after having one big sip from her iced coffee.
"Ah you're adorable!" the woman in front of her cooed. Hinata blushed in embarrassment. She was so focused on her free coffee.
"My name is Nii Yugito." She offered a hand which Hinata shyly took to shake. "Hyuga Hinata."
"You said you have something important to say," Gaara finally said.
"No, not really," she replied. Gaara sighed loudly, no doubt thinking that this was a total waste of time. But Hinata saw that Yugito was used to his attitude. "I just want to see how you're doing and frankly, I want to see the girl you're running away with."
Hinata fought the blush that was threatening to decorate her pale cheeks. Ah, the implications of those words. The older woman turned to look at the Hyuga, staring at her face intently. "You're cute. No wonder even Gaara would give you more than the time of his day."
"It's not like that…" Hinata tried, but Yugito's knowing look didn't change.
"What are you even doing here in Suna?"
"Ah I was just passing by," she replied, "Naruto has been noisy and whining to me because 'Gaara left all of us to run away with a girl'." Gaara sipped his iced Americano. Hinata wondered if this Naruto was one of the guys from his contact list. It seemed to be that Gaara was in this close-knit group of boys. Then there was the sound of a phone ringing. "Ah, talk about the brat. Naruto is calling." Yugito then picked it up, setting the call on loudspeaker.
"Yugito-nee you found Gaara yet?"
"He's here with me."
"Gaara!" His voice was loud and booming, but strangely very boyish. "How dare you betray all of us?! We all agreed to be single forever and grow old together!"
"Stop whining."
"but you're running away with a girl~"
"Naruto. Stop crying."
"You liar!"
"I didn't agree to anything."
"And you promised we all would go on a trip this summer but you chose a girl over us~"
"I didn't promise anything. And stop spam-calling my phone in the middle of the night or I'll block you permanently."
"Meanie!"
Deciding he was tired listening to his friend's nonstop whining, he pressed the red button, ending the call completely. Yugito smiled at Hinata's confused look. "Ah you see. Naruto was a wild pokemon I picked up. Along with the other brats. I'm taking care of them. Somehow they met this wild Gaara and quickly got along."
Hinata giggled. So, Gaara wasn't totally friendless. And judging by how this Naruto talked, the boy seemed to be a really good friend. The older woman then saw that both Gaara and Hinata's glasses were already empty. 'These two are actually more synced than I've originally thought.'
"I need to go. You two," she looked at the two teenagers. "Feel free to order something else to drink here, if you want to stay longer, or to take away, still my treat!"
"We'll head back to the inn too," Gaara said, standing up.
"Take away then."
Yugito watched as the two were standing side-by-side, looking through the menu to order something to take away. And it was one of the few rare times that she saw Gaara as an actual teenager. Sometimes this boy acted and spoke way too mature for his age. If she offered to treat him alone, she doubted he'd accept it. He'd say something like "No need. I have money too" or "Don't treat me like a kid". Heh.
Somehow having Hinata by his side, who was so excited to order something because it was free, had softened him in a way. She watched as Hinata was reading through the menu and contemplating between two drinks she wanted to try, Gaara was doing exactly the same. There was a slight excitement in his cold aquamarine eyes. Rare.
"Iced green tea coffee," the Hyuga finally decided.
"What she said." Gaara had decided to order the same thing.
"What! You can't!"
"Why?" He was genuinely confused. Yugito chuckled to herself. The barista watched the two with interest, he was totally smiling in amusement.
She looked at him as if he were stupid. That was new. "If we order two different things, we can taste both, we'll share," she explained, then she turned to the barista. "One signature coffee, one green tea coffee. All iced." Yugito waited for Gaara to complain, but he didn't. So she went to pay for their drinks.
"Okay. I need to go. It was nice to meet you Hinata." The girl smiled at her. "And Gaara." She turned to the boy, and he looked at her, waiting for the older woman to continue. "Don't do anything funny that you will regret."
Hinata's cheeks reddened at the implications. But Gaara didn't get it. "Something funny I will regret?"
"Geez how do you not get it? Don't get her pregnant. You don't want to be a father at eighteen," she said bluntly and the next second, she was out the door, not missing the way his ears had turned red and his cheeks a light pink.
That kind of thought hadn't even crossed her mind once but now that Yugito had said it… It was silence after Gaara and the squad's pseudo-caretaker was gone while they were waiting as their drinks were being made. And they found themselves not quite able to meet each other's eyes while talking.
0o0
They took a rather, slow leisure walk to the inn, slurping their free drinks on the way. Gaara took a brief glance at the girl beside him, noticing how the blue in her hair was highlighted more in the sun. It was fascinating how her hair looked black during the night and when it was wet, but was almost entirely blue under the sun.
Arriving at the inn, it was quiet, but there were more staff walking about, some were sitting and talking among each other in the now empty diner. A lot of them looked young, not much older than Hinata and Gaara themselves. She suspected it was more family members probably spending summer by helping their family's business. Hinata spotted the girl from that morning seated with another girl, with her back to them as they walked slowly towards the stairs at the other side of the entrance. Her brown eyes spotted the redhead and her whole demeanor changed to being shy. The boy was unaware.
"Let me try that." She offered her drink to exchange with his. Gaara looked at her and wordlessly switched their drinks and she watched as he drank from her cup, mentally noting how he didn't seem to mind sharing the same straw with her. So she wouldn't either.
"Ah. I knew it. Their signature tastes good. I know coffee would taste amazing with strawberry milk," she said as they continued walking. She knew she had always been a quiet child, but she just couldn't stop talking when she met someone who was even more of a quiet child than her, namely Gaara.
The two were unaware of the crush-having girl jealously watching their entire drink-exchange as they took a slow walk to their room.
0o0
When night came, he told her he would check out the pub after dinner and he had offered her to go with him at first, but she said no. She'd rather laze around inside her room and do some mindless scrolling on her twitter.
"Isn't that illegal?" she asked. He looked at her as if she were stupid. "Right. Fake IDs. Got it." She threw herself on the bed, pulling the cover over her body. Heaven. "Do women hit on you a lot when you're in a pub alone?"
"No. If they do, I haven't noticed."
'Ah. He really isn't aware of his own looks.'
Actually, Gaara wanted to check in case there was something out of place, namely Hyuuga's men. He knew that they would've started a search party by now. He knew those kind of guards liked to wind down in a pub. And he would know if someone wasn't from Suna just from how they acted, especially Hyuuga's men, they stuck out like a sore thumb.
When Gaara was finally gone, Hinata got up, suddenly reminded of the bath house that the inn provided. It'd be good for her muscles. She decided she'd tell Gaara about it after she tried it herself. On the way to the bath house, she came across the girl who had been making heart eyes towards her fake husband. She hoped now that she saw her alone, she wouldn't say anything to her. She really couldn't help her negative thinking, especially after people at school talked behind her back a lot.
Thankfully, the girl didn't confront her or anything. Although she did look like she had a lot to say to her. "What would you even say to the wife of a man you fancy anyway…?" She let out a sigh as her bare body was submerged in the hot, full of minerals water, finally realizing how tense she had been the past few days. This inn was really cheap for so much facility, though she had to pay for the bath house, dinner, and lunch, though it was not really much.
Doing everything alone while Gaara was out doing his own business wasn't so bad either. Hinata suddenly felt like in a real vacation. All of her family vacations she's had were all under some kind of agenda. She remembered having to survive in the woods and sleep in a tent, Hanabi having to do the same, apparently to test both of the daughters' survival skills. They had said it was a vacation.
She was back to her room, sitting on the desk, setting her tablet on the table to continue to draw some more. Her thoughts wandered back to her family, whether they had noticed she wasn't coming home, whether they were still waiting, whether they checked with the school. After all, it wasn't officially summer break, yet. There were a lot of leftover activities for club members and students who didn't do so well in their finals.
Yawning, Hinata looked at the clock. Gaara wasn't back yet. She wondered if she should just lock the door, hoping she'd hear if he knocked or call her phone.
0o0
It was quite packed when he got inside the pub. His feet made a beeline towards the bar, as always. He liked to drink anyway. His order was served and he looked around, eyes sharp and calculating. It seemed people came in groups, chatting over the live music. Good, no Hyuuga's guards yet. If anything, it seemed that there were not a lot of men tonight.
Sipping his drink slowly as his eyes roamed again, he spotted a group of women who seemed to be in their mid-twenties in the corner looking in his direction. He hoped they weren't looking at him. His talk with Hinata earlier brought back past memories of being approached by older women when he had been alone like now. Usually he'd ignore them until they grew tired of trying to make him talk and left him alone. He wondered if that was what Hinata called 'women hitting on him'? Were they hitting on him?
He didn't notice when one of the women walked in his direction and took a seat right next to him. "Hey," she said, her tone sweet and friendly, "you alone?" He just had to ignore, like always, and they'd go away. "I just broke up with my boyfriend and frankly, I'm open to meeting someone new. Are you seeing someone now?" Still no reply from the redhead.
"Oh you seem to be younger than me. Don't worry, I can handle a young one."
"No, thanks," he finally replied. She almost swooned at how deep his voice was.
"We should change numbers first, don't you think? I want to get to know you better."
"I'll pass."
It made her quite angry that he still wouldn't look her way. He almost flinched when she put her hand on his shoulder, trying to stir him in her direction. He really hated people touching him without permission. 'The audacity of this random stranger….' He shrugged her hand off and that action seemed to offend her for some reason. 'She was the one who touched me first…'
He turned to the opposite way, deciding to move seat, but another woman was already sitting there. "Oh, hey," she greeted him.
He could fight a lot of men at once, but right now, if he were to be frank, he was kind of terrified. Usually they'd go away after being ignored, not touching him.
So, women were really hitting on him, he'd realized. Though he didn't know why and how Hinata knew. The second woman put her hand on his arm. "You need help with her?" she gestured to the first woman. "I can make her go away."
"I want you two to go away." He shrugged her hand off with a little more force. She looked offended, too.
Downing the rest of his drink, he finally stood up and left the place. He couldn't take any more of their touching, even though he had planned to stay for a bit longer for surveillance purposes.
0o0
Gaara arrived at the inn. With hurried steps, he headed to the stairs that'd take him to the second floor where their room was. He briefly wondered if Hinata was already asleep. Right before he stepped onto the first stair, someone called him from behind.
"Oh, you have been alone all night."
He turned around and saw the girl from the morning, the one Hinata said 'liked' him, a broom in her hands. "Yes?"
"You're not with your… uhh…"
"Wife?" he finished for her.
There was disappointment in her eyes, though Gaara didn't see it. She was hoping he'd say girlfriend (so she would still have a chance) or even relative, but was disappointed hearing the word 'wife' directly from his mouth. "My wife is tired. She's been in our room resting." He didn't even know why he felt the need to explain this to some stranger.
He was about to take another step on the stair when she blurted out, "Aren't you a little too young to be married?" Her eyes were wide, probably not even planning to say that aloud.
"Our decision on when to start a family is our decision alone and nobody else's business." She flinched at his sharp tone. "Now, if you'll excuse me."
That was an entire dismissal from the young man, and she watched as he climbed up the stairs, not sure whether to be jealous of his wife or amazed that he loved her so much that he married her so young. She decided on both.
Gaara twisted the doorknob, half expecting it to be locked but it opened easily. That meant she was still awake. Or so he thought. He spotted her still sitting on the chair, her head laid on the table, facing the other way. She was definitely sleeping.
He locked the door, took off his jacket and hanged it, then quickly made his way to Hinata. He placed a hand on her head, lifting it a little so he could take the drawing tablet from under her cheek, setting it aside. He thought of leaving her be but then he looked up to see the AC was quite directly above her, and her pajama was thin. When he lightly touched her cheek with the back of his hand, her skin felt cold to the touch, she had been sitting there for a while. So he carried the girl and gently placed her on her side of the bed, he was about to retract his hands when he heard her soft groan.
"uh… Gaara is that you?"
"Yes. I just got back."
She blinked slowly, trying to see his face who was still hovering over her. "You kind of smell like alcohol. Did you drink?"
"A bit."
"That's illegal."
He let out a small chuckle. Her eyes had closed again and her breathing slowed. He retracted his hands from her sides, finally giving a distance between their faces. He pulled the covers to her chest. He then headed to the bathroom to take a shower and went to bed, officially closing day-2 of their strange trip.
0o0
The third day started with another breakfast that they both ended with a bowl of cereal again as closing. Hinata had requested to explore the town by bus. After breakfast, they both dressed lightly for the weather and went to the bus stop that was fortunately a walking distance from the inn.
They sat on opposite ends since the bus was near empty that morning, after the rush hour of people getting to work had passed. She looked out the window the entire time, asking things that Gaara himself barely knew since he was in Suna only until middle school and he rarely went to the town itself.
They spent most of the day walking around, visiting shops of little trinkets, eating street food, and drinking at a teahouse. She tried every street food that caught her eye. From this trip to the market alone he had finally realized that Hinata had a big appetite. She didn't look it, especially when she was so small, daunty, graceful, and frankly, looked fragile, of course he knew she was far from fragile.
The sun had gone down. The two teenagers went inside a convenience store to buy bottled drinks before taking the bus home to end the day. She was contemplating on what to drink in front of the refrigerator when her eye caught something at the end of the aisle. That black-clad tall man, she recognized him. Blood drained from her face instantly. Trying not to make sudden movement that'd gather his attention, she turned around slowly, got into another aisle, and made a mad dash to the front, hoping to see Gaara there. She looked around, trying to find Gaara and wary of another of her father's men.
Almost running, her eyes moved more frantically. "Where is h—oof." She had run into someone and they grabbed her immediately to steady her, placing both of their hands on her arms. She sighed in relief when she saw it was the boy she had been looking for.
He quickly noticed her pale face. "What happened?"
"They're here," she whispered.
The redhead didn't need another explanation. He nodded and took her hand safely in his, quickly walking out, into a crowded alleyway where they could blend. He pulled out a snapback from his bag and put it on her, he pulled out another for himself, and then put on the hood of his sleeveless hoodie that he wore over his shirt.
"Did he see you?" He asked as they continued their fast walk through the throng of people.
"I don't think the first guy saw me. But I don't know if there were others that I didn't notice." He nodded, his eyes were sharp as they moved from one direction to another, his hand was still on hers.
Gaara suspected that her father's men were scattered in the town, and if any of them caught sight of Hinata, they'd be on their asses immediately. So his first priority was getting to a bus or a taxi without being seen. When he looked back at her to check on her, she was already wearing a pair of glasses.
"Ah, my eyes are extremely sensitive to contacts. So I can only use glasses."
"Inconvenient."
"I know right. I'll find eye donors to replace the ones I have."
They arrived at the bus stop at the same time the bus arrived. But as they were about to get on, someone from a distance yelled, "It's her!" It didn't take long for both teenagers to ditch the plan on getting on the bus and run the other way. Bus routes were very easy to track, they could not give away where they were staying, and the men could very well tail them on a much quicker vehicle than a bus that stopped every once in a while.
They ran and ran with a beefy man hot on their tail. He was yelling on the phone, no doubt notifying the other men to get to where they were. He was glad that, while not look like it, Hinata was a fast runner that could keep up with his pace. This girl was so far from fragile.
He looked over his shoulder and couldn't find him, but he was sure that man wasn't so far behind. They needed to blend more. And while they were fast runners, they weren't track-and-field athletes, a break was very much needed if they wanted to run longer. There was a club with bright neon lights ahead of them. He took her hand and dragged her inside the club, not forgetting to flash their fake IDs to the guy guarding the entrance.
"Can we have water?" he asked the bartender.
He looked at the two weirdly. "Yeah man, here, it's free."
"Let's go," he said after both of them emptied the glasses of water.
He walked fast through the throng of people, trying to find the back door that would bring them to a different alleyway or something. They really needed to find a taxi. Hinata followed him, holding on to his shirt, not ready to risk being separated in a foreign town with her father's men out to get her. Noticing the tug on his shirt, his hand reached behind to pry her hand away from his shirt and take her hand instead.
She looked behind her and noticed that there was a man with the same all black outfit similar with the other men they had encountered today, standing before the bartender that served water earlier. 'Shit.' They were really scattered everywhere in this city. He had probably received a word that the missing ex-heiress was in Suna today and was last spotted in this area.
"Gaara, there is also one here," she hissed. He looked over his shoulder. The man's gaze was roaming around. He wasn't the one who yelled at them at the bus stop nor the one she encountered in the convenience store.
If there was one inside a club, there would be others inside a café, a convenience store, a teahouse, a restaurant, probably every building in this area, and even more on the streets.
"No building or the streets here are safe. What do we do?"
"The back door is locked," he informed her.
She looked at him, thinking, then said, "Let's go upstairs."
They quickly found stairs that took them to the second floor, they continued to the third floor for good measure. It was quieter and they had a chance to take a quick breather while thinking of what to do next. There were doors on each side. She didn't know whether they were karaoke rooms or what, but the hallways were very dimly lit.
They both froze when they heard a faint sound of footsteps from the stairs. Without thinking, she grabbed the boy to the closest nook she could find, hoping to hide both of them. The footsteps grew louder, nearer, and she thought of something mad. She took off both of their snapbacks, but keeping his hood on, and she said, "I am so sorry Gaara, but this is another one of romance novel clichés, let's see if it actually works." She placed one hand on the back of his neck, bringing his face closer to hers, and her lips met his halfway.
And they both felt a slight, passing fascination at how soft the other's lips were.
Hyuuga Hinata was kissing Gaara right now and she could only blame it on her adrenaline and her utter desperation on not getting caught and being dragged home. They needed to look like they were getting it on and for that, she needed Gaara to play along. Just before she bit his lips just so she could french-kiss him, he finally kissed her back. She suspected he had probably been really confused. She could feel both of his hands on her face, probably to cover her face as much as possible so when the man saw them, he wouldn't recognize her.
They both heard as the footsteps stopped beside them, but a distance away from where they were. 'Did he see us yet?'
Their bodies were pressed perfectly against each other and their lips moved in sync like they had kissed many times. She shoved her tongue inside his warm cavern. 'Oh wow, my first kiss and I'm already french-kissing.' And she could feel how he experimentally and eagerly did the same.
After a few seconds, the man finally continued on his journey. He probably thought that minding some horny couple getting it on in some dark corner wasn't worth his attention.
When they pulled apart, he looked at her, specifically at her swollen lips. If she wasn't looking so dazed right now she'd notice how his ears had reddened.
They carefully looked around, the man was not in sight. Getting downstairs was risky, there definitely was more than one man because the one that witnessed them kissing was kind of shorter than the one they found downstairs.
Gaara tried the doorknob of one of the doors that lined the hallway. It opened with a click. They looked at each other. Hinata soundlessly nodded at him. The footsteps came back, unfortunately, he kind of realized that the girl who was making out had a midnight-blue hair that he had seen on Hinata the ex-heiress, he was back to check it out, but the two were nowhere in sight.
When they got inside, there were two people on the bed, almost naked (thank god they weren't stark naked yet) who almost jumped in surprise seeing two people went inside without a care in the world. Hinata thought it was their fault for not locking the door. 'So, apparently, not karaoke rooms.' Gaara paid them no mind as his mind was set on getting to the balcony. Hinata managed to squeak a "Sorry! Just passing by. Don't mind us!" before running to follow the redhead.
Gaara easily, gracefully jumped to the ground with a soft thud. He was like a cat. "Jump!" he ordered her. Hinata was scared. "Come on," he tried to coax her, "you've done this before."
"With the help of a tree, yes."
She was afraid of breaking her joints, as lame as that sounded. But the door opened once again and the man who saw them making out was there, and the poor couple on the bed were now terrified. Gaara noticed her frantic look and immediately knew that the man had found her already.
"Quick!" With a complete trust that he'd break her fall, she jumped right to his arms as he caught her easily, his arms wrapped around her on automatic. "Got you." His low voice was so close to her ear. For a split second, she thought of how nice it felt to hug Gaara. If someone wasn't hot on their tails, she'd hug him longer.
And the two were on a run again, turning from alley to alley, to the main road, to an alleyway again and somehow they were caught after meeting a dead-end. There were two men right behind them.
"Hinata-sama! Please don't run anymore. Let's go home and your father will surely forgive you!"
"Why? Tired already? I can do this all day."
"There are even more guards in this city. It's futile. We will find you anywhere. I can assure you the others aren't as kind. So just be obedient."
One man roughly grabbed her wrist and before she could even try to pry it away, she gasped as Gaara's foot connected with the man's face in a hard kick, forcefully removing his hand from her as a result. The other man looked at the boy in alarm. The boy could and would fight.
"Is this your boyfriend? Hiashi-sama will not be happy to hear about th—" He, too, became a victim of Gaara's swift kick. He made almost no sound when he attacked and that was when the two men realized that the boy was dangerous, and they would have to use violence.
But Hinata didn't want to leave all the fighting to Gaara. He did almost everything and it was finally time to put what she had been practicing all her life without a real opponent to good use. And in a matter of seconds, there was a blur of fists, kicks, open palms, and skillful dodging.
Hinata was surprised that she was actually very hard-hitting which made her wonder why she hadn't been able to apply the same strength when her opponent had been her little sister Hanabi and her clubmates from the karate club.
The guards underestimating her worked to her advantage too. All they knew was that Hinata-sama was the weaker sister, not as strong as Hanabi. Imagine their surprise when the weak sister was actually beating their asses. Hinata's movements were very swift, graceful, practiced, and she had a relaxed hitting motion that made everything look so easy, except she trained for years to master those techniques.
Gaara's movements were more unpredictable, no doubt from mixing several martial arts techniques that probably didn't even come from Japan. Again she wondered what Gaara had been doing all his life.
When the two guards passed out from being hit by a blunt object for the finishing touch, they made their way to get out of the dead end. But they had been so unlucky that day, more guards kept showing up in every turn they took. The two teenagers had to fight six more before finally getting long enough break to get a taxi, not eager to find out if there were more.
0o0
It was ten in the evening when they arrived at the inn. The owner and his teenage daughter (and some others who were still sweeping the floor at this time of night) were confused when they saw how battered Gaara and Hinata were. The two looked extremely exhausted. Out of concern, one of them approached the two and asked, "Would you like a hot bath prepared?" Now that was really tempting.
They had prepared a mixed bath, the pond was segregated only by some kind of a wood plank. So the two sat on each side. The hot water was heaven to her sore muscles. She hadn't fought anyone like that before, so her muscles were probably shocked. Gaara was probably used to it so she knew he wasn't suffering as much.
Hinata, as always, started the conversation, although she couldn't see his face. She asked about what happened the day before when he returned from the pub.
"I had a drink."
"That's it? You looked exhausted. People drink to relax, don't they?"
"I was actually checking just in case your father's men were in this area. I wasn't expecting them to reach here that fast anyway, but I certainly didn't expect them to be in town today. I'd say it's impressive. And it won't be long before they search the outskirts."
"I can't hear the 'but'. There's something you are not telling~"
He scowled. "It's not worth telling."
"Really?"
He scowled again. "There were two older women, what do you call it, hitting on me."
"Woah, you really are hit on, on a regular basis? Must be hard being beautiful."
"It was terrifying."
Of course her compliment on him being beautiful went over his head. And somehow she was not surprised that someone terrifying like Gaara himself could win against anyone twice his size in a fight, but was afraid of people hitting on him.
"What did they do?"
"Asking for my number, touching me when I ignored them."
"That's harassment. Not similar but it's like when girls are groped on the train during rush hours." she explained.
"Have you experienced that?"
"Hmm," she responded, recollecting past experiences of her being the victim when she could feel a hand on her thigh, on the rare times she traveled by train, yikes. "I'll come with you next time, so I can protect you and your chastity~" her tone was light with teasing.
"Please do."
She smiled at his reply. And then there was silence for several minutes, the only sound being the ripples of water. The silence gave the both of them to think about something else.
"I'm kind of surprised that I could fight men twice my size. I thought I wasn't that strong. I can't even win against my little sister," she said to herself. She didn't really expect Gaara to listen to her musing, let alone, respond to her. But then his voice came from the other side.
"Do you want to hear my theory?"
"I'm listening."
"The way I see it and judging from your character, you actually hate violence. And you love your sister too much for you to inflict serious damage on her. So when you two are sparring, you subconsciously hold back because you just don't want to hurt her. You holding back has resulted in your sister always winning against you. And this makes you believe you are weak, so your brain automatically suggests that you are weak anywhere, so that's why, while you're not holding back as much in your karate club at school, you don't stand out much either."
Hinata thought over his words and they all made sense.
"But when you face real opponents, those who would actually pose a real danger and threat to you, you fight with your real strength because you feel threatened. And your body acts what your brain actually tells it to because the need for survival is high. I have suspected as much even before I saw you actually fight."
"…That makes so much sense. Thank you." There was a silence before she talked again. "Oh yeah. I haven't apologized for earlier. I'm sorry, Gaara."
"Sorry for what?"
"Sorry for kissing you."
"Hmm." That hum wasn't very convincing to her. "How did you come to that idea, anyway?"
"I thought nobody would give much attention to two horny teenagers eating each other's faces and getting it on in some dark corner." Gaara was surprised at her rather crude choice of words. "I read that cliché a lot in romance novels. It actually worked, although only for a while before the dude realized he recognized me anyway," she explained. "Sorry for kissing you."
"Stop saying sorry."
"Are you mad at me?"
"No."
"Really?" Again, not convincing. Not that she knew what a mad Gaara looked like.
"Really."
"But you hate physical contact and your bad experience yesterday made me realize of how much of an ass I am for doing that to you." She sounded like she was about to cry. Oh boy, she was going to cry. But Gaara really didn't mind it.
"You are not a stranger. And I don't mind. I would've pushed you away otherwise."
"So you don't mind?"
"I don't."
"You're not mad at me?"
"I'm not."
"Really?" She asked once more. Now, it was just repetitive and he was getting tired of repeating the same thing.
"Really."
"…Was it good, though?" Hinata couldn't help it. She suddenly wanted to tease him.
"Maybe. I don't have any other experience to compare it to."
Hinata almost gasped in surprise, but quickly caught herself. "That was your first?!" He hummed again in response. He found himself not minding that it was. But Hinata genuinely felt bad. "Oh man, I'm so sorry I stole it. You can be mad at me, it's okay."
"It's fine."
"It's not!"
"Why are you getting mad on my behalf?"
Frankly, he hadn't even thought of kissing anyone in his life, not now and not in the future. He had thought it was a stupid activity. Though, now he kind of understood the appeal, not that he'd admit his opinion literally changed because he'd finally experienced it with Hinata.
"Right, sorry, heheh. I don't know if this will make you feel better. But that was my first kiss too, you know. All this time I have imagined my first kiss to be somewhere romantic, overall sweet. And not in some dark corner while my father's guards are out to get me and one of them watching me make out after running all around town."
"That was some skill you have for a first kiss."
"You mean the tongue?" She teased him again. Hinata was on a roll today. She laughed when he chose not to answer. "You seem to forget that I read romance novels and am very familiarly acquainted with the clichés."
"Right."
"So was it good? With the tongue, I mean?" He noticed the teasing tone in her soft voice.
"It was."
Hinata blushed furiously in embarrassment, and she suddenly choked on air and went into a coughing fit. She hadn't expected him to answer her, she had expected him to just not answer like before. What a way to pull the uno reverse card on her when Gaara grew tired of her teasing him.
0o0
When they returned to their room, Hinata went straight to the sink in their bathroom to wash her hair. She had been sweating from her scalp to her toe that day.
"Hey Gaara, want me to wash your hair for you?"
Gaara looked contemplative, seriously considering to take up on the offer, if only it'd embarrass her farther. "I don't mind," he finally answered.
"What?!"
"What?"
"R-right. C-come here."
She certainly hadn't expected him to let her do that. And now she was washing this redhead's hair, using the same shampoo she'd just used. 'What has the world come into?' the activity felt strangely intimate and Hinata was suddenly regretting every decision she had made in her lifetime.
Gaara's hair dried faster than hers and so he went to bed earlier than his companion. She set the hairdryer to the max and to the hottest to dry her hair faster, she really wanted to go to bed soon. This was probably their last day in Suna. They most probably had to move to another city as soon as possible. And she suspected Gaara would want to do it when morning came.
It was half past eleven when the girl was finished with her hair. So Hinata turned off the lights, let the AC still on, and got under the covers. She let out a relaxed sigh. She really loved lying down in bed. Especially after such an eventful night.
The two teenagers had a dreamless sleep. But they forgot not to wake up cuddling. Imagine her horror when she woke up realizing she had been hugging him in her sleep. Hinata was first awoken by a very nice scent tickling her nose. No wonder, she had her face literally shoved in his neck. So, breaking news, Gaara smelled good.
Then she noticed how his right arm was loosely on her waist. How it came to this point, she had no idea. But first, she had to remedy this situation before the redhead woke up. The gods above didn't hear her prayers of course, when did they ever?
Because Gaara was waking up, several seconds passed for him to recover his memory of who he was and where he was sleeping, like always, then his eyes moved downwards to the body pressed on his. Apparently, there was a midnight-blue hair greeting his sight—it smelled nice—and there was someone hugging him, and there was a hand—his hand, he'd noticed—loosely wrapped around somebody else's waist—Hinata's waist.
And then she looked up as he looked down. And then their eyes met.
Nope. No. This was not happening. Definitely not happening. They both had mocked how ridiculous this particular cliché was. They were both the kind of people who liked their spaces, both in their waking moments and in their sleep.
So why were they hugging in their sleep?
Who went to who first? Did it matter anyway? They both couldn't deny that it was the best sleep they'd ever had so far in their lives. And they had been so battered and exhausted the night before anyway, so it made sense that they would unconsciously move around in their sleep and found comfort in another person and hugged them until morning came. That was the excuse they both secretly came up with.
She blinked at him. And nobody moved to remedy their position. Nobody said sorry either.
Because they were not.
…
—to be continued—