That one time Hinata let herself act impulsively, she never thought it would cost her a bombardment of constant, overwhelming desires she never allowed herself to think of dwelling into.
Being a college student is hard enough. But being a broke college student is on another level of headache, not to mention that her college life is basically hanging on the thin thread of her scholarship. It's always so packed with endless assignments, nonstop pulling all nighters, and part time jobs at one place after another.
And when her body betrayed her into refusing to work due to the excessive amount of labor hours and then the stress level hit its peak; Ino had successfully convinced her to do that one thing she always cringed out whenever Ino brought it up during their pillow talk session in their bedroom dorm.
"Aw, c'mon Hina~ being a sugar baby doesn't always require you to use your body! There are some daddies out there just wanting a companion in a fancy dinner or just a casual date or basically just wanting somebody to spoil their money on." Ino had said.
"There are some, Ino. Not all." I rolled my eyes, "And we never know which type I'll end up meeting."
"No no no! Didn't I tell you? This one guy is a friend of Sai. You remember him, right? The sugar daddy I met last Friday?"
"That one whitey?"
"Hey don't mock him!"
"I just said to exactly as one of the things you described him to me."
Ino only grinned sheepishly when she remembered, "Hehe I kno–no no! That's not the point!"
It was my cue to pull up my fluffy blanket, ready to wrap my sore muscles into a warm cocoon after a long, tiring day at class and work. I knew there's no ending when Ino started this topic. Not until the lack of response I give her when I already fall asleep.
I tucked my head lower to nest on the warmth I'd yearned the whole day while half-mindedly listening to Ino's a to z explanation as to why I should try meeting this one guy she'd been pestering my hearing at least for the past week. My mind was already half-drifted to sleep as I catched a few key words about said guy: blond, blue-eyed, and ultra rich. The kind of those old-money bastards.
"Sai said he just wants a companion for a dinner, no more than–"
"What's this? You're still in touch with this Sai guy?" I narrowed my eyes, demanding an explanation.
Ino only stared at me as she twirled her hair, pink dusted her cheeks, and a shy smile plastered on her lips–things that don't belong to an Ino.
"Oh c'mon, No. You're kidding right?"
"Huh why? Is there a problem with that?"
"There definitely is. Where's that one absolute rule you kept telling me about?" Now I sat up to look at her more closely, "The holy 'one day rule'?" I pushed. "'Which is to only meet a sugar daddy for a day and become a complete stranger after'," I recited that line like a verse from the bible, reminding her just in case she forgot.
"Well, we never know, Hina." She ended her excuse with a naughty wink.
"Wow, what a great excuse for the one who is always so adamant about rules."
"Is that a note of sarcasm I just heard?" she narrowed her eyes.
Hearing that response, I folded my arms across my chest and looked at her deadpanned, "A note? It was a whole-ass melody."
"Hey!" she threw her Elmo plushie at my face but I blocked right before it hit my head. We laughed.
"But really, be careful, No."
"I am."
Hearing her replying with such confidence gave me a waft of relief somehow. I gave her a curt smile before standing up to take my glass of water–
Huh?
Thud!
"Oh My Gosh! Are you alright?!"
My vision went blurry for a few seconds as I landed on the floor, feeling the world spinning below me. I felt Ino grabbing my arms to help me stand but I squeezed her hand instead. Not that I want to stay in that position.
I can't.
I closed my eyes, and opened, and closed again. Trying to grasp back my focus before trying to process what exactly just happened.
"You okay?!"
"Yes," I said simply.
"See? Your body can't even make it to stand. You've forced yourself too far, Hina." She was genuinely concerned. I was aware. But I didn't know how to reply to that because first, it was true. And second, if I admit it she'd continue pushing her agenda to make me meet that blond daddy she kept telling me about.
"I told you, it's a good opportunity. He has the money you need. And you only need your presence to accompany him for a day. Then you can rest for days without worrying about part-time-shits for a while."
See? She always brings this up.
Ino waited for me though I still didn't reply. But this time, I–surprisingly–just found another reason not to; which is, third, it finally just hit me of how tempting that offer is.
"You need your deserved rest, Hina. Mid-term exam is coming up and you definitely can't fail this, right?"
I stared at her and she knew that she was so so right.
She sighed, "That's why you need to recover. And study. You can get all those at once just by 'sacrificing' a day."
I fiddled with the hem of my sweater, brain working extra careful in contemplating this offer. I bit my lower lip it became white by the pressure, saying, "You sure he doesn't want anything else?"
"I'm positive."
"No s–sleeping together?" my voice was small and uncertain. Explicitly saying it was kinda embarrassing.
"No. Just a date, or a dinner. You name it."
I held my breath. "Okay."
And that is the root for all the mess I've been going through after that…date? Dinner? I don't know.
Then here I am–after a whole week has passed since that first and (should be) the last time we met–standing with my super ordinary outfit, hair as plain as how my clothes look–without even a small arrangement whatsoever. Student ID on my hand, a canvas tote bag slings over my left shoulder; I try to catch my breath as I make a sudden halt from my jog to the library and freeze completely when my eyes land on him.
That one guy I met last Saturday night. Blond hair shines golden under the sun and blue eyes beam the brightest light I have never seen on anything else before.
He looks simple in his denim jeans and black shirt. Both sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, the veins around his forearms protrude and flex as he folds his arms across his chest.
He looks simple, leaning without a care in the world on his black Bugatti La Voiture Noire–as if it is a common car anyone could afford– and the very car we drove together exactly a week ago. Also, the only car name, or type, or whatever, I ever manage to remember after I read its name last week.
He looks simple, even when he lifts his left hand checking the time at his Rolex circling his wrist.
He looks…simple?
Really…? Is that the right word?
Then I check again, to all the things surrounding him.
"Haha..ha..ha.." I breathe, "Simple my ass."
I stare at him again and 'simple' is such a vulgar insult.
He is so fucking not normal. So crazy gorgeous yet intimidating. Extremely attractive yet so mysterious.
Everything about him makes me shrink like a tiny feeble drowning to the endless ocean.
When chills run down my spine, I snap myself out of it, deciding to hurriedly run away before those eagle blue eyes catch a glimpse of my presence.
Huh? What makes me think that he, the almighty Uzumaki Naruto, is looking for me? Here? Right now? He might be looking for his friend…? Or another girl…? I'm sure he has thousands of reasons to be standing leisurely there and me, the nobody Hinata Hyuuga, is definitely not upon that list.
My feet have already gathered all their strength to walk away until–holy shit–those blue eyes clash with mine.
Then a smirk makes itself seen on his lips.
Then they mouth 'found you' that I somehow manage to make out.
Then that God-carved body moves, walking, leaving his million dollar sport car to me, a mere nobody like me.
I look around, just in case there's somebody else around me he is actually walking toward, but nope. There's only me in his line of sight.
Then our eyes engage in such intense staring as I feel everything around me stands still, the time seems to stop to stare at us.
"You are not even going to say hi?" he speaks. He speaks.
I snap.
W-When did he…?
"Or are you too stunned to even speak?" he smirks, satisfaction brimming from his voice.
I stare at him. There's lump in my throat, rendering me unable to utter even a single word. My brain seems to crash as I grip on the sling of my tote bag seeking for an anchor.
Tik.
Tik.
Tik.
Few seconds pass by and he still stands there solemnly while eyeing me with such an intense, overwhelming gaze.
"Say somethin', Nata." He talks like silk, yet there's this weird, implicit dominance emitting from his husky voice–which is so scandalously inviting–that makes me helplessly obey whatever he says.
"Y-Yes?"
Damn the power he holds over me.
Damn that nickname he gave specially for me.
Dammit. This man is so fucking dangerous.
Goddamit.
He chuckles.
Oh fuck.
He dips his hand into his back pocket and takes something there. Oh fuck that flexing forearm. If I grow a kink for a fucking arm, this bastard right here is solely the one to blame.
Another step forward is taken, his shiny shoes land on either side of mine, caging my feet within his presence. He towers over me as I try so hard not to choke myself due to my almost-snapping self-restraint to breathe this man in. His pheromone definitely does something to me. It's so intoxicating.
Suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, he traces his back fingers down my right, slender forearm. A familiar warmth settles upon my hand as he grasps it, sending me a wild surge of awakenings from his mere touch–of how he touched me the other time.
"Here," he whispers, his breath feels nice on top of my head.
My brain still can't process what he does, or whatever the thing he hands me until I feel something slip through my fingers and he moves in reflex to catch it.
"Woops, careful babe."
His affectionate voice lands upon my ears and I'm so so so doomed.
"Phone?" I ask, confused.
"Yours."
"Why?"
"Didn't you break your phone? You didn't pick up my calls at all."
Are you serious?! Dude?!
"It's the only reasonable explanation, isn't it?"
I snort–mentally, of course.
"I could have gone to you the first time I made my–unfortunately–failed call but I was aboard that day. Sorry, I couldn't make it anytime sooner than this."
He suddenly takes the phone from my grip and leans closer, hand finding its way to tuck it inside my jeans' back pocket until he finishes it with a gentle pat that stays a second too long there. "Can't afford you breaking this one too, can we?" his whispers feel ticklish on my ears. A sudden rush of heat come surging to the tips of my ears, or my face in general, or my whole body–whatever, but I swear to God, I can bet that they look so red red right at this fucking moment.
"W-what–"
"I also have a lot of things to talk about. Let's meet tonight?" he smiles and I know it wasn't an offer. It was an order. Woah, such confidence should be a crime, no?
I focus my sight on the black shirt only a few inches away from my nose tip, trying as hard as I can to not imagine any unnecessary things, such as what lies beneath that mere fabric–oh fuck. I really need to stop thinking at all.
I can't see it but it feels so obvious that he roots his gaze at me until his hand comes to tuck my hair behind my ear with such delicacy. Yet I can't control the goosebumps standing on edge all over my body as his hand brushes slightly on my cheek.
"And the sweet marks I made down there are almost vanished completely. We might as well renew it later," he says as his eyes glancing on my exposed neck.
I haven't even made up my mind to utter a single reply when another attack–which is a quick peck on my temple and a simple 'see you'–made their way to me. Then I see him walking backward with a smirk on his lips, as if emphasizing his absolute glory in making my whole being a complete bust with his brief presence.
He tops this goodbye with a wink then swiftly turns around, walking toward his car and driving to the main road. The humming of its machine booms inside my whole world until it finally vanishes in the distance.
I don't even realize how long I stand like a statue there until my watch beeps, reminding me of my original destination to get the anatomy book I've been queuing for two weeks to borrow.
What makes him so confident that I would come to see him again? I wonder. Even though Ino–the one who made the 'one day rule'–has broken it herself, but I'd made myself clear to hold onto it 'til the very end before I decided to jump right into this whirlpool of rich people shit.
"Huh? Where's my student ID?" I rummage through my tote bag as the librarian waits to scan my ID. "I was sure I held it before I jogged here, but then–" oh shit. Holy fucking shit.
It's only then I got the answer.
Damn that sly fox.