Chapter 4

The sound of footsteps rushing to her bedroom had Sakura groaning with unhappiness, as there was nothing she wanted more than finally go to sleep, but she knew her roommate wouldn't care about that. She'd just barely pulled a nightshirt on when Ino came bursting into her room, already dressed for her full-time job at her parents' flower store.

"Mind telling me who the hell that hottie was driving you home?" she demanded breathlessly, like she'd just run all the way up to their apartment. "And why the hell you're home over an hour later than usual?"

Well, they'd been talking. That was really all there was to it. They'd finished their shift at eight and it was now… Sakura blinked owlishly in surprise. Way past nine, she noted. Closer to ten, in fact. Damn.

"Wait, why are you still home?" she shot back, trying to take the heat off herself. "Doesn't your shift start at nine?"

Of course, there was no way the attention would divert from Uchiha Shisui now that Ino had seen him. "Who is he?"

Groaning again, Sakura threw herself backwards into her bed, aching limbs screaming with relief and creating that odd painful pleasure throughout her whole body.

All she wanted to do was sleep (though part of her begged that she didn't, for sleeping on a full stomach always left her uncomfortably bloated), but she knew that wouldn't be a possibility. Not until every last drop of information had been spilled and absorbed by the determined blonde standing at the foot of her bed.

Yawning, Sakura sat up and removed the hair tie holding her hair up, her fingers working to ease the tension on her skull, quickly yet thoroughly shaking the locks of long, pink hair.

Tutting like she predicted she would, Ino knelt behind her on the bed and took over, her manicured nails tickling her scalp as they ran through her hair. "Idiot. How many times do I have to tell you you're going to cause abrasions on your scalp doing that?"

Sakura rolled her eyes but said nothing, instead relishing in the short pampering session. Careful fingers worked swiftly in braiding the long locks, though only after reaching out and grabbing a brush, gently eradicating all potential knots.

"So, why aren't you in work?"

There was a sigh of annoyance. "That moron can't get here until eleven to check out my car, so I called my mom and she said she'll open up today."

That was hardly Naruto's fault that he couldn't get there until eleven. He worked a demanding job, too. "It's not like you have to stay here all day," she said in his defence (though would never admit to him that she did so, lest she gave him more reason to fawn over her). "Just drop a key off for him and he'll be in and out."

"Yeah in and out of your underwear drawer," muttered the blonde with a tone of disgust and disapproval. "He's so into you it makes me sick."

Only because the attention wasn't on her for once. Rather than saying that to her and causing an unnecessary argument, Sakura remained silent, offering a single shrug as her response instead.

What was she supposed to say, though? She couldn't deny Ino's words, because Naruto had confessed his feelings loud and proud for everyone to hear, but she sure as hell didn't want to acknowledge what she'd said either. No, she wasn't frustrated with Naruto's affections (for it was always a compliment, in her eyes), but what she disliked more than anything was when people ignorantly told him to get over it or laughed at him for his unrequited feelings.

She'd let Naruto down gently multiple times, telling him that it just wouldn't happen as she didn't feel the same way and would never force something she didn't feel. So what else was there for her to do? She vehemently refused to shut him out of her life entirely, for in the long run it would only hurt them both.

"So?"

Gods, she'd been drifting off, Sakura realised with a start. Smiling sheepishly, she reached back and felt the braids, thanking her roommate earnestly.

"Who is he?"

Not this again, she wanted to groan. Instead, she told Ino in a sleepy slur, "Lemme sleep – I'm tired."

But Ino refused to listen as she settled down beside her on the bed, head propped up in her hand, mindful of messing up her styled hair. "Then spit it out already and I can leave you to sleep."

There was no point in talking about it, though. Nothing was really happening outside of playful flirting, though Sakura supposed that was only because of Shisui's so-called plan.

Groaning pitifully, she turned onto her stomach, burying her face into the pillows.

"Oi, Forehead," she snapped indignantly. Too tired to even care, she didn't flinch when Ino struck her with a cushion. "Don't you ignore me!"

How serious was he about his plan? Surely, it wasn't merely banter like the rest of their harmless flirting? The mood had felt too intense, their gazes lingering for a little too long and–

No more romance movies, Sakura thought determinedly, irritated towards herself for such stupid thoughts.

Scowling, she snuggled deeper into the pillow. "I work with him – the one I was partnered up with," she muttered, knowing already there was no way she'd be left alone until Ino had an adequate answer. "He offered to drive me home. That's all."

An unladylike snort reached her ears, causing her groan helplessly. "Yeah. Sure. I bet you guys snuck off to the nearest available room to–"

"We got breakfast," Sakura snapped. There was no hiding her burning face and so she kept it buried, horrified but intrigued by her body's response to the mere possibility of their taking it to the next level. "Do you have to twist everything like that?"

"Like what?"

"You know what–"

"Sexually?" There was clear exasperation in her voice, like Ino genuinely couldn't understand her in the slightest. "You're telling me you've been working with that hottie for months now and haven't thought about it? Not even once? I knew you were a prude, Forehead, but I didn't think you were downright frigid."

"Ouch."

"Sorry," she said, sighing. "I just… I don't get you sometimes."

What wasn't there to get? All Ino really knew was what she'd found out fifteen minutes ago – that she worked with a guy who was ridiculously hot and that he'd been kind enough to offer her a ride home. What she didn't know was that they'd spend the entirety of their twelve-hour night shifts goofing off (when they weren't assisting the residents, of course) and teasing one another. And she wouldn't know that. For this exact reason.

"You do know he watched you until you entered the building, right?"

So? Her dad did that, too. They were being gentlemen. "Stop making something out of nothing." The words were barely coherent, slurring together as the scent of her freshly washed bedding lulled her towards the open arms of the adored land of sleep she needed. "Shisui-san's a friend."

Telling her blonde bombshell of a best friend his name was a grievous mistake and although part of her was wary of doing so, she knew that it was her get out of jail temporarily card.

And it worked spectacularly, the lilt in Ino's voice impossible to miss even in her half-asleep state. "Fine, fine. Be that way. Want me to wake you up when I get home?"

She whined at just the thought of having to wake up. "Yeah, please."

Shockingly, Sakura didn't hear her leave. Didn't even realise she'd fallen asleep until many hours later when she awoke to the sound of her phone dinging annoyingly – annoyingly until she stared at the screen blearily for several moments, trying to make sense of the words and numbers displayed. Sakura rubbed harshly at her eyes and blinked several times to rid herself of the splotches marring her vision.

Then blinked again.

And again.

A short-lived happy squeal she attempted to muffle by turning into her arm escaped her with a little shame.

'Want to grab dinner before work?'

Shisui. It was signed fucking Shisui.

It was sent shortly after she'd fallen asleep and part of her was giddy at the thought of him somewhat asking her out again so soon after parting ways. The rational side of herself tried to slow her down, reminding Sakura that she shouldn't get her hopes up – it wasn't a date (neither were), since it was before a shift.

But…

Hearing the front door opening and her roommate's voice, she all but darted out of bed, scaring the life out of their poor cat as he ran away from her to hide in Ino's bedroom.

"Ino," she called breathlessly, stopping in the living room when the blonde looked up in surprise.

"You're up already?"

Shaking her head, because that seriously did not matter, she blurted out, "He wants to go for dinner before work."

The switch in Ino's countenance was instantaneous. Tossing her bag onto the sofa, she set her hands on Sakura's shoulders firmly, guiding her in the direction of the bathroom with a serious, "You're going to get in that shower and while your shaving your legs, you're going to finally tell me everything. For starters–"

"Wait, you're not staying in here while I–"

But she was ignored. Ino sat down resolutely on the closed toilet, foot tapping impatiently. "For starters, when the hell were you going to tell me he's a relation of Sasuke-kun's?"

Damn it. Ino really did know no boundaries. It wasn't the first time she'd seen her naked (definitely wouldn't be the last, either), but still. A little privacy would've been nice.

Knowing there was no use in arguing and somewhat appreciating her making a point of averting her gaze, Sakura sighed and started up the shower, waiting the two minutes necessary for the hot water to come through. It wasn't until steam filled the bathroom that she stripped down, hopping in quickly.

"So?"

She groaned. "I didn't think it was that important-"

"You–"

"Damn it. Can you pass me my razor please?"

When a hand shot through the gap in the curtain, Sakura smiled and took the razor, along with the conditioner Ino suddenly passed over too. They'd found the tip on a blog a few years back and hadn't looked back, for using conditioner in place of shaving gel for their bodies (yes, anywhere) made their skin so, so incredibly soft, with the added bonus of no shaver's rash.

"You don't think it's important?" Ino demanded, further away now and giving her space to semi-peacefully shave her legs.

"Why would it be?"

"Well…" Sakura knew she'd won the spat when the blonde sighed with annoyance. "I found his Facebook profile, you know."

It would be a blatant lie if Sakura said she wasn't interested and she knew Ino knew she had her, because there was an amused huff from the other side of the bathroom that was nearly lost due to the shower.

"…Anything interesting?"

What if he was in a relationship? What if she was all over his profile? What if she saw evidence of him flirting with every girl the way he did her? Gods, that would be humiliating and hurtful.

"He's clean," Ino said after too long of a pause, telling Sakura she was trying to torment her. "But maybe too clean."

Meaning there was barely anything to be seen. Scowling down at her legs, she was quick to finish shaving them before deciding to hell with it and shaving everywhere else, also. It gave her time to think and settle the unease.

Most people wanted privacy – the Uchiha family more than anyone she'd ever met before. If she hadn't been friends with Sasuke, she wouldn't have been able to see anything other than his name and profile picture on Facebook (even as friends, she still couldn't access certain stuff – no-one could). Itachi straight up refused to create any social media accounts, because in his eyes, people didn't need to know so much about him. Their parents were the same.

"Maybe Shisui-san just values privacy?"

"Or," the blonde stressed the word. "He's a player. You can't even see his friend's list, Sakura."

"You can't see mine either – other than mutual." Dropping the razor carelessly to the side, she got stuck in on her hair, taking a moment to rid herself of the braids. "Is that suspicious too?"

"No – you're just weird."

Great. As aware as she was of her best friend's inability to think before speaking, and although she knew that Ino didn't mean any offence with what she said, Sakura still felt nerves churn away in her stomach. First prude, then frigid and now she was weird. That was the ideal prep talk before a kind-of-date.

To show that she had no intentions of continuing their conversation, Sakura began humming while washing her hair, taking her sweet time to condition the ends. Living with Ino had gifted her with ridiculously soft hair – she was certain it'd never been in such wonderful condition – thanks to the regular free trims, the hair care routine she'd created solely for her hair and the correct vitamins to help it grow and strengthen.

Pouting as she switched off the shower, Sakura readied herself for facing the blonde. How could she stay mad at her after all she'd done?

Besides, who the hell would do her hair for her if she pissed Ino off?

A fluffy blue towel was shoved through the gap in the curtain. "You done?"

Knowing that Ino wasn't on about being done with the shower, she snatched the towel from her perfectly manicured hand, thankful for the cover that hid her snarl. "Yeah," she replied sweetly, feigning ignorance. "How do you think I should style my hair?"

By giving Ino full control of not only hair, but makeup also, Sakura was fully let off the hook and granted permission to sit giddily on her phone, exchanging bordering on flirty texts with Shisui while she was pampered.

"I say we go with a natural look," Ino stated, not suggested.

'So, is this step one in your grand plan?' she sent, rather than immediately agreeing to dinner. She had to keep him guessing, after all.

The response came just as Ino started blow drying her hair, momentarily obscuring her view as masses of pink hair flung around chaotically.

'You're eager to jump-start my plan, aren't you?'

She blushed. 'What makes you say that?'

'You had the cutest look of disappointment on your face when I told you I need to butter you up some more.'

How the hell did she reply to that? Sakura hadn't even been aware she'd looked disappointed – it'd only been a fleeting reaction, soon overshadowed by the delight that'd shaken her when Shisui told her she was out of his league.

He thought that she was out of his league.

'Oh? Nothing to say? Are you getting shy, Sakura-chan?'

Yes. Yes, she was.

Thumbs frozen over the screen, she could only stare as three dots appeared at the bottom.

Then disappeared.

Then reappeared.

Was he toying with her? Sakura bit her lip, watching as they disappeared yet again.

"He's playing with you," Ino suddenly said, directly into her ear and making Sakura startle.

"Ino!" she hissed, clutching her phone after nearly dropping it. "Don't you know it's rude to read over a person's shoulder?"

"You mean like how it's rude to demand answers from a person showering?" Lowering the hairdryer Sakura had only just realised was now unplugged and wrapped up, she offered an impish smirk, asking, "Haven't we already established by now that I don't care for boundaries?"

Unfortunately. Many times. Way, way too many times. "If you were a guy, this would be harassment."

Blue eyes rolled playfully while she reached for her curling iron next, absentmindedly informing Sakura what she had planned. With work being in a few hours, she proposed an updo that was both casual and stylish – in other, much simpler, words, it was a loosely curled ponytail. Why Ino felt the need to hype it up or make it seem like more than what it was, she'd sure as hell never know.

'What's the matter, Shisui-san? Are you at a loss for words too?' Then, to remind him of the conversation the night before when she'd made him blush, she added quickly, 'I'm sorry. My disappointment was because I assumed that I was too womanly for you, too. After all, isn't that why you're waiting?

Did it make sense? Not to anyone who wasn't a part of the conversation, she supposed. But that didn't matter.

His next response had her cheeks burning.

'What if you are too womanly for me?'

"You'd better be able to back up your talk, Forehead," sighed Ino while fingering a loose curl, admiring her handiwork. "Then again, you've only been with one guy and I'd hardly say that lazy–"

"Ino," she hissed angrily.

"What?" she asked, coming to sit in front of her with an innocent smile and makeup brushes in hand. "You're over it, right?"

"There was nothing to get over–"

"Then what's the issue?"

Really? Was she that obtuse? "The issue is that you're using it against me–"

"Am I, though?"

"Yes!"

Ino hummed thoughtfully and spun around on her stool, admiring the cool neutral eyeshadows that she'd already told Sakura would make her eyes pop. As much as she disliked the thought of going through a twelve-hour shift with a face full of makeup, she was one hundred percent willing to endure it. And if it irritated her, she could simply wash it off between rounds.

"All I was trying to say is that you're pretty inexperienced, don't you think? And he'll know that, too. If things develop, that is."

She gritted her teeth, gaze dropping to her phone. "Not. Helping."

'You tell me,' Sakura responded eventually.

The flirting wasn't anything new to them, she knew it wasn't, but for some stupid reason her heart refused to believe it and continued pounding away in her chest whenever she saw that Shisui was typing. It didn't even help when she had to shut her eyes to allow Ino to do her makeup because the anticipation tore at her when the phone dinged, and despite knowing she would be evoking her best friend's wrath by doing so, she was so tempted to keep opening her eyes to check what was happening.

She did so sneakily between brush changes, her cheeks colouring at Shisui's daring reply.

'Who knows? I may grow to like being the submissive one if it was with you.'

Her thumbs were almost furious in their typing, desperate to send her response before Ino turned back to her. She had a sneaking suspicion the blonde was purposely taking her time, however. The thought made her bite back a smile.

'You? Submissive? The image of you being spanked or whipped doesn't really sit right in my mind.'

Was that too far? Sakura wasn't given the chance to type anything else to lessen the impact her words could potentially have, for Ino returned then with a knowing smile. Fortunately for her, she wasn't mad about the distraction.

"Is he nice?"

She nearly made the mistake of nodding while Ino got started on the winged eyeliner. Nearly. That rage was on a whole other level to anything else. Honestly, Sakura more or less feared the blonde when eyeliner was involved. "He's really sweet," she answered, biting her cheek to keep from smiling. "He handles all the residents with so much care–"

"I meant to you," Ino interrupted swiftly, pausing to add more gel to her brush. "It's one thing being nice on the job – I'm nice to clients even when they're rude to me because I'm a professional."

Well, she guessed that was a good point. "Shisui-san's really kind to me, too. He's the one who helped me adjust to working there."

"Oh?" she pushed with a disappointed hum. "So, he was there when you got that kick to the stomach?"

Of course, she'd shown Ino the foot sized bruise that'd marred her stomach for what felt like an eternity, taking its time in slowly going through all the different shades. What'd terrified them was the fact it actually started a period, although they soon passed it off as Sakura's being stressed and having a new routine.

"Yeah."

"Why didn't he stop it from happening? You said a while ago that you've been partnered up since your first day, right?"

"It's not as simple as stopping it from happening," Sakura replied with a sigh. "Obviously, you don't want people assaulting you and the natural response is to defend yourself, but… You just can't, Pig."

"So, you let them slug you?"

Another sigh. Why did she make it sound so black and white? "If I tried dodging, they run the risk of falling."

"Then catch them–"

"That runs the risk of skin tears, fractures, shock to the system. Sometimes catching them is worse than letting them fall."

Silence. Then, Ino let out a low whistle. "Old people are so fragile."

Some were, yes. And a few times already, Sakura had made the mistake in believing that their shockingly super strength meant they were more durable. After the kick to the stomach, she'd dodged the next attack that was meant to claw at her face, and the man had slipped. Luckily, Shisui had already been approaching after the kick, so was able to assist the man in his fall to the ground to lessen the damage.

There were thankfully no repercussions for her or the resident, as she'd soon come to discover he was having a seriously bad day and was confused as hell. It made sense (kind of) to lash out at the person he sincerely believed was holding him hostage and, in his mind, killed his beloved wife. He hadn't been in the right frame of mind and while it still had to be written down in the random behaviour chart, Sakura had assured Shizune that the fault was her own for mishandling the situation.

Sensing Ino moving away to look over her collection of makeup once more, Sakura opened her eyes, peering down at the message she'd received a couple of minutes ago.

'Is that your way of asking if I like spanking, Sakura-chan?'

Before replying, she caught sight of Ino assessing different styles of false lashes, prompting her to lower the phone and ask, "Are they really necessary?"

"No look is complete without lashes," came the flippant response she should have been expecting.

Sighing, since there was no use in arguing, Sakura simply hoped she wouldn't be burdened with the huge ones that irritated her eyes after a few hours or worse, started peeling.

'What if I do?' came his next message when there was no response to the first.

She resisted the urge to grin coyly while repeating his earlier message of, 'Who knows? I may grow to like being the submissive one if it was with you.'

Was that too forward? While she was bold at times with him and rejoiced whenever she made him blush, nothing she'd said had ever been that audacious.

She didn't have to fret for too long, because Shisui's reply was immediate.

'We'll find out sooner or later.'

Her heart stopped, bursting into a sprint moments later and the thought of him spanking her caused a vaguely familiar, completely welcome warmth in the pit of her stomach.

'Pervert,' she shot back.

'What time will you be free?'

'Eager?'

'Always for you, Sakura-chan.'

That warmth spread upwards and not only enveloped her heart, but shot up to her cheeks, also. She pretended not to hear Ino's snort of amusement as she waited for the glue on the lashes to become tacky. One glance at them informed Sakura she was wearing wispy ones – bigger than she'd choose for herself, but she trusted Ino inexplicably not to make her look ridiculous.

"He wants to know when I'm free," she informed the blonde.

"Are you going in your uniform?"

That was a good question and it brought forth a surge of rare anxiety as it only just dawned on Sakura that she was potentially making too much of an effort, especially considering it wasn't an official date and they had work straight after.

Calm down, she warned herself before she ruined all Ino's efforts by sweating the makeup off.

There was a good four hours before their shift, meaning she could use two different excuses, the first being that she didn't want to dirty her uniform or potentially carry any bugs over to the residents later that night. The second being that there was always a faint scent of the home that clung to her clothing, no matter how many times she washed them. The thought of sitting through an entire dinner while smelling like a residential home was unappealing to her.

"No," she said resolutely, earning herself a proud nod of approval. "But I'm going to keep it casual."

"Go with your black skinny jeans," Ino instructed. "It'll downplay your makeup even more."

Good thinking. "What top?"

The blonde hummed thoughtfully while wheeling herself back over, one lash strip held carefully in the grip of her tweezers. Knowing that this part was equally important (especially if Ino was proud of the eye makeup), Sakura remained frozen, eyes shutting and reopening whenever she was ordered to.

"Do you still have that bardot top? The crossover one?"

She grimaced, then immediately stopped when Ino's hand froze. "Sorry." Then, explaining her grimace, she said, "That means either wearing a strapless bra or going braless – both are pretty bad for work."

"You usually wear sports bras, right?" Sakura hummed in confirmation. "Okay, so, just take a sports bra with you."

She supposed that was possible. And considering she would need to get changed anyway, she could use one of the spare rooms to do so. Nobody would really say anything about it – no, they would be too caught up on her and Shisui walking in together and her being in her own clothes. Gods, they were going to have a field day, weren't they?

"Wear the high waisted black jeans," Ino added after a second thought. "The bardot top is cropped, right?"

Yeah, making it an incredibly brave choice and not only because it was winter. The whole outfit was extremely formfitting, putting her body shape on full display. While Sakura was happy with her body and confident in how she looked, it was still a little nerve-wracking. What if he thought she was trying too hard?

"Will flats go okay with it?" she asked, hiding her worry.

"Sure. Heels would be too much," Ino responded distractedly and Sakura opened her eyes to look at her when instructed to do so, watching curiously as the blonde inspected her hard work.

The bright grin she gave her informed Sakura that the false lashes were well blended with her own and the process of applying them hadn't disturbed the rest of the makeup. Not that she'd really doubted Ino.

'I'll be free in about fifteen minutes.'

'I'll be there in fifteen, then.'

"He's eager," Ino pointed out on the way to her bedroom, smiling.

"What? Not too eager?" questioned Sakura with a roll of her eyes.

But her smile never waned. Sitting on the edge of Sakura's bed, Ino watched her for a moment before glancing over to the wall of photographs, giving her a tiny amount of privacy to dress herself. Up until that moment, she'd remained in just her towel. There hadn't been any point in getting dressed considering Ino had seen it all before.

"Would you rather he didn't show much interest in you?" she asked, still looking at the photographs. "All Uchiha I've met have been pretty honest in their personalities – even Sasuke-kun. If this guy's eager, then… I don't know. He must genuinely like you."

Oh. While she knew Ino was still hurt over her failed relationship with Sasuke, she hadn't realised it was that bad. It'd been years, after all. But it seemed some things stuck.

Repressing a sigh (because as much as she loved Sasuke, Ino seriously deserved so, so, so much better), she finished getting dressed and gave Ino a twirl, knowing that it was better to redirect her attention than allow her to delve further into her sadness. "What do you think?"

The distraction was taken instantly, and she leapt to her feet with a grin. "Great."

They spoke about where they could possibly be going for dinner while Sakura packed up her uniform and everything else that she would need for the duration of her shift. One glance at her phone informed her Shisui would be arriving in five minutes, giving her enough time to rush through brushing her teeth and admiring her made up appearance.

As always, Ino was a miracle worker. After curling the ends of her ponytail, she'd wrapped a long lock of hair around the hair tie to hide it and left Sakura's bangs down to frame her face. And the makeup was natural but beautiful and she just… There was no way to thank her properly for the boost in confidence it gave her.

"You outdo yourself every time," she complimented her best friend. "Thanks, Ino-Pig."

"Get out there and enjoy your semi-date!"

Sakura didn't waste any time and by the time she left the complex, she spotted Shisui's car pulling into a space beside her own. And while she made her way to him, expecting for him to remain in his car and wait for her to get in herself, he shut off the engine and got out, shocking Sakura when she spotted a box of chocolates in his hand.

He smiled and met her halfway. "When I asked him what would be appropriate, both Itachi and I agreed that chocolates were the safest bet."

She raised a daring eyebrow, eyes narrowing playfully. There was no way they'd coincidentally picked up her favourites. "You spoke to Sasuke-kun, right?"

"Who spoke to Naruto-kun, who spoke to Hyuuga-san."

"You've been busy," Sakura said, biting back her smile.

Like herself, Shisui was not dressed in uniform. Instead he chose dark jeans, pairing them with an equally dark, cashmere jumper that was so well fitted she struggled to tear her gaze away from his broad shoulders. It was surprising how nice she found it seeing him outside of work and not in uniform.

"What's this?" he teased and leaned closer. "Are you blushing, Sakura-chan?"

Nope. She most definitely was not.

He eyes softened and he pulled back, holding out an arm to escort her barely ten steps to his car. She took it without hesitation, failing to ignore the firmness of the muscles in his arm.

"I didn't think it was possible for you to look more beautiful than usual," he said in what was supposed to be an offhanded way, but she saw the look in his eyes. "You never fail to captivate me, Sakura-chan."

Gods, she couldn't find her voice. The nerves that suddenly racked her body did so without a shred of mercy, leaving her to fidget when he shut the car door for her.

It seemed he sensed the nerves too, because that teasing edge returned to his voice when he started the engine. "It's been a while since you were this shy."

He was referring to her first ever shift at the residential home, Sakura realised. Back when she'd given Hinata a run for her money when she'd fumbled through the first few hours, damning their superior but also worshipping the woman for teaming her up with someone like Shisui.

"Don't worry, I won't try spanking you," he dared to say, and she almost choked on her saliva.

"Pervert!"

Shisui's grin was infectious and she found herself holding back a giggle when he set off towards their kind-of-date.