A/N: Those of you who have read my other story will appreciate this chapter a bit more.

CHAPTER 11

"S-Sasuke-kun!"

"Hm?"

"Ano, will you be free tonight?"

Sasuke felt his heart give a lurch at Hinata's sudden forwardness. It seemed rather suggestive to approach him with such a question right after they finished filming the drama's most anticipated kiss scene. They already had to do three takes after their first failed one, since the directors were incredibly invested in capturing the kiss from a variety of angles. That meant a pretty extensive amount of public lip-locking.

And yet, here was Hyuuga Hinata, imploring him to spend time with her after the shoot by staring at him with her big round eyes. Sasuke shook his head to rid himself of all thoughts about her cuteness. This had to be a huge scam! There was no way Hinata was going to fall into his arms out of the blue – there had to be a catch to all that she was doing! Still, Uchiha Sasuke not-so-secretly had a soft heart, which meant that he found it difficult to refuse Hinata, especially when she looked at him with those eyes.

In the end, it turned out to be no surprise that he agreed to spend time with Hinata in the evening – even though this meant that he had to cancel his session with Lee in the studio with late notice. (It was a good thing that Lee was too happy-go-lucky to be upset about his sudden change of plans.) Sasuke had never ditched his private training for anyone, so as he begrudgingly stepped into Hinata's apartment, he prayed that whatever Hinata had planned for him would be worth his time.

Hinata told him to make himself at home while she went to the kitchen to cook them dinner. Sasuke felt bad for imposing but there was little that he could do against an insistent Hinata, so he ended up admiring the furniture and ornaments in her living room while feeling like a tourist. Why was he doing all of this again?

"I prefer not to be alone tonight…"

Right, that was why. He was Hinata's closest friend after all, which meant that he had certain duties to fulfil. In the pretty demon's defence, she was going through a rough patch all thanks to his crazy fans. In a sense, her plight was indirectly caused by him, so he took it upon himself to make her happy again. If keeping her company allowed him to take care of her needs, then it was only the right thing for him to do.

After what felt like an eternity, Sasuke walked into the kitchen to check on what Hinata was doing, only to see her preparing two rice bowls with beef steak that had been cooked to perfection. He watched her deft fingers sprinkle furikake and sesame seeds onto the dishes and could not help but let out a noise of approval at the fine presentation. Hinata looked up at him with a moony expression before she broke out into a blindingly bright smile. Sasuke's heart skipped a beat at this.

She brought the food out to the dining table, where they ended up having their dinner. Sasuke took the seat opposite Hinata's and they ate quietly. There were a thousand and one things running through his mind, but Sasuke did not know how to begin voicing them out, so he settled for the heavy silence that hung between them.

Finally, Hinata put down her chopsticks and wiped her mouth with a piece of tissue. She looked up at him and asked, "How is the food, Sasuke-kun?"

He scooped the last bit of rice into his mouth and put down his chopsticks to look at her. "You cook very well," he replied courteously. "Thank you for the meal."

Hinata beamed at his compliment and stood up to clear their bowls. Sasuke was quick to take all the bowls and utensils from her to bring them into the kitchen for washing. Against Hinata's protests, he rolled up his sleeves and began to wash the dishes himself at the sink. Hinata settled for drying the cleaned items with a cloth. It was an oddly domestic task, but Sasuke did his best to ignore the nagging voice in his head which pointed this out.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun," Hinata began.

"Hm?"

"Does this feel familiar to you?"

Sasuke furrowed his brows, quietly contemplating the abstract question. "Not really," he replied after a moment. Hinata let out a small tittering noise, which prompted Sasuke to angle his head to the side to look at her inquisitively. "Why'd you ask?"

Hinata let out a soft hum as she put one of the bowls aside and reached for the second one to begin wiping it down. "I don't know… I have dreams sometimes, and I dreamed that we did something like this before."

Sasuke tried to process the fact that Hinata dreamed of him – and that her dream was as innocent as her disposition. He suddenly became ashamed of the nature of the dream that he once had about her. "You dream of doing chores?" he joked half-heartedly.

As expected, she let out another chuckle. "N-Not usually. I dream a lot, and sometimes I remember them. Do you?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I don't remember most of my dreams and I'm happy to keep it that way."

"Ah…"

Sasuke handed Hinata the last of the cleaned utensils and leaned his weight to the side to look at her properly. "What do you dream about?"

A small blush made its way onto Hinata's cheeks. She paused for a moment before resuming her task of wiping the chopsticks dry. "It's nothing important," she replied vaguely.

Sasuke gave her an unimpressed look. "Nothing important? It sounds like something worth talking about if I was in one of them."

There was another pause before Hinata replied, "One day I dreamed that I was kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?" Sasuke's brows shot up high at this admission. He briefly wondered if this exacerbated her fears the moment she found out that she had become a target of hate from his crazy fans.

Hinata nodded. "Y-Yeah, sort of. Someone tried to kidnap me, but you saved me…"

Sasuke smirked. It seemed that even Hinata's subconscious was into white knight fantasies of some sort. "Is that so? I wonder why you'll dream of something like that. Was I your closest friend in that dream?"

"S-Something like that."

Sasuke smiled at her wistfully for a moment but before he could open his mouth to form a response, Hinata began to tug him by the sleeve. She led him out of the kitchen and told him to sit down at the dining table while she prepared something for them.

Within a minute, Hinata re-emerged from the kitchen with a set of traditional sake ware. She placed the items on the table and began to pour him a cup of sake from the small ceramic decanter. Sasuke rested his elbow on the table and put a hand on his cheek while admiring her grace. He was surprised that she would have something as exquisite as a sake set in this dormitory – but as he had already figured, Hyuuga Hinata could be rather unpredictable.

She sat down on the chair diagonally across his and raised her cup to him. They downed their shots at the same time after clinking their cups together. A moment later, Sasuke decided to speak his mind.

"Are you feeling better now?" he asked.

"B-Better?"

Sasuke gave her a shrug. "You seemed disturbed by today's events."

Hinata let out an involuntary shiver at the reminder of the multiple death threats that she had been receiving throughout the course of the day via her Instagram inbox. She knew it was not a good idea to check her inbox – or even social media – during this tumultuous period, and that Sasuke would undoubtedly lecture her about this unhealthy tendency, but she could not help herself.

Sasuke noticed her downtrodden spirits, so he instinctively pushed back his chair and turned his body to face her fully. He lifted his hands slightly towards her in a silent invitation, which Hinata readily accepted. She got off her chair and slid onto his lap sideways. The blush that was previously on her face in the kitchen made a reappearance when he slid an arm around her lower abdomen to keep her securely on his lap.

"Talk to me," he said lowly.

After a moment's hesitation, Hinata replied, "I'm just a little scared… I have never been threatened like this before."

Sasuke tightened his hold around her as a form of silent reassurance. "That's understandable. I'm sorry you have to put up with this."

Hinata turned around to give him a close-lipped smile. Sasuke quickly looked away after making eye contact with her. It would do him no good to look at the pretty demon from up close like this for an extended period of time.

"It's okay… Sasuke-kun is very popular after all. Your fans love you very much."

Sasuke let out a loud sigh upon hearing this. "Some of them are crazy obsessed. I'd rather do without them."

Hinata giggled. "I-I can see why. They tell me that you are very good, and that I don't deserve you."

Sasuke picked up on the underlying sadness when her short laughter trailed off. It could not be that Hinata genuinely believed such things, could it? Sure, she was a demon that was wrecking his otherwise peaceful life, but if Sasuke had anything to say about it, Hyuuga Hinata was plenty worthy of good things in life, and that included a good boyfriend. A good one that wasn't him, that is, since he was bad with all things romantic.

"What do you think you deserve?"

Hinata froze in his lap for a moment, unsure of what to say. After another moment of hesitation, she replied, "I don't think I deserve anything." Sasuke frowned and was about to refute this when she continued, "I-I'm not trying to put myself down… I just think that people don't deserve things beyond what is needed to live an average life."

That was strangely profound. Who knew that Hyuuga Hinata would turn philosophical after consuming alcohol? "Why do you think so?" he asked.

Hinata bunched up the fabric of her baggy jeans with her fingers. "I used to want a lot of things. I t-thought that if I worked hard then I would deserve to get what I worked hard for…like my father's approval, and…and Naruto-kun. But I don't deserve such things, and I hurt myself by thinking that I did. T-That's why I'm trying to focus on enjoying what I have, instead of thinking about what I should have."

Sasuke nodded in understanding and raised his other arm to hold her waist. He was hugging her properly now like a child holding their favourite stuffed toy. Hinata did not seem to mind this. If anything, he reveled in the rosy blush on her cheeks that was already beginning to spread.

After a moment of contemplation, he replied, "You're probably right, but only to a certain extent. You can deserve nothing good, but also deserve to have nothing bad happen to you. And I think no one deserves to be threatened for doing ordinary things."

"Ordinary things?"

"Things like…dating, I guess. Or having friends of the opposite sex."

Hinata nodded empathetically. "That is true as well. Ne, it is difficult to be an idol, isn't it?" As she said this, she began to pour him them both another drink. "Your fans love you so much that they want you to themselves."

Sasuke sighed in exasperation and loosened his hold on her. The side of his hand now rested snugly on her lap. "That's not love; that's just an obsession. They need help."

Hinata wordlessly passed him his cup and raised her own to him. They downed their second shot at the same time. Sasuke savoured the burn of the alcohol down his throat which was accompanied by a warmth in the pit of his stomach. He did not indulge in alcohol often, but he was starting to appreciate moments like these with Hinata. He wondered if this made him sentimental – just like how she seemed to be.

"Thanks again for this. And for dinner," he decided to say.

Hinata looked up at him when he said this and gave him a tired smile. Fatigue lines were starting to appear under her eyes, but her sincerity was conveyed to him nonetheless. "Thank you for spending time with me." Sasuke reciprocated her smile with a small one of his own. Hinata leaned in to rest her head against his shoulder, which prompted Sasuke to bring a hand to her own shoulder to hold her close.

It turned out that he did not end up wasting his time this evening after all. If anything, this was a pleasant change of pace for him and he briefly entertained the idea of spending more of his evenings with Hinata doing mundane things like having dinner and washing dishes. Well, he didn't need to – but maybe Hinata did, if his company could distract her from her worries. He was simply doing a service for someone that he cared about.

"S-Sasuke-kun." Her soft voice penetrated through his thoughts. He was thankful for the distraction since his thoughts beginning to take a turn into undesirable territory.

"Hm?"

"You're quite romantic after all."

The tips of his ears began to burn at her honest remark. Sasuke scoffed at the thought but resisted the urge to shove the demon off his lap. "I am not," he denied flatly.

"Mm… You are very nice to me, just like in my dreams."

"Oh?" Sasuke's indignance was replaced with a newfound curiosity. "What things did I do?"

There was a long pause where Hinata did not deign to reply. He thought that his question was going to go unanswered, so he settled for silence until she opened her mouth and whispered, "You held me like this."

To Sasuke's utmost frustration, Hyuuga Hinata was beginning to invade his thoughts a great deal these days. He found that he could be ruminating about any random thing, and somehow his brain would find a way to remind him of her. His favourite food? Hinata made an extra onigiri for him every time they had afternoon shoots, and they were always delicious. High socks? Gudetama socks, which she had happily gifted to him one day when he went over to her apartment for dinner. Toilet cubicles? Well, the reason for this one was obvious.

This was not even funny anymore. Sasuke felt like he was beginning to go crazy from all these thoughts of her, and he wondered what he had ever done to deserve this. All he wanted when he signed his contract with Konoha was to lead a peaceful, drama-free idol life in the pursuit of his dreams to become an accomplished, well-rounded artist in the entertainment industry. Yet, the universe seemed to have other plans for him by tossing one Hyuuga Hinata his way to distract him from his goals.

It all started as a (fairly) harmless fixation on getting revenge for the humiliation that she had caused him on national TV. Yet, he begrudgingly acknowledged that he was now on his way to losing a game of his own making.

Hinata was not his girlfriend; but she was also more than just a friend. They were in a situationship. And somehow that label annoyed him like an itch that he could not scratch no matter how hard he tried.

Sasuke trudged wearily into the recording studio one day, hoping that he would not bump into her, but of course the universe decided that he was not going to have his way. He was scheduled to record a verse for their drama's main original soundtrack along with Hinata, and he spent his whole trip in the car secretly hoping that he would not bump into Hinata in the studio. Seeing her at shoots and occasionally afterwards in her quiet apartment was already overwhelming for him after all.

"Sasuke-kun!" she greeted exuberantly the moment his feet crossed the threshold of the entrance. Well, with those two words, his little hope was shattered.

"Hinata," he greeted. His eyes scanned the room and they spotted a man with a ponytail who was currently slouching in his chair. He bowed his head down in greeting to the person that he assumed was the music producer, who in return stood up and offered him a handshake.

"Hey, nice to meet you. You can call me Shikamaru," he drawled.

"Nice to meet you too," Sasuke replied cordially and returned the firm handshake. He then sat down on the couch behind the man and whipped out his phone to distract himself. He still hated the memes of himself on social media, but he'd much rather scroll through Instagram and risk looking at those memes now than face the confusing, pretty demon in front of him. He made a firm resolution to himself to sit down and use his phone till Shikamaru summoned him to enter the recording room, like a patient waiting to be called to see the doctor. Hinata could busy herself with other things.

But of course, Hinata would choose to distract him from his task again; and as usual, Sasuke would relent.

"Sasuke-kun."

"Hm?" He kept his eyes glued to his phone.

"Are you prepared for today?"

Sasuke scrolled through his Instagram feed while nodding half-heartedly. However, Hinata was not about to give up on her mission to distract him. She scooted towards him on the couch till their thighs were joined from the hip to the knee. Sasuke had to hold back a small shiver at this. He should be used to physical contact with her after everything that they had been through in and out of shoots, but somehow he never seemed to be able to contain the butterflies in his stomach whenever she pressed up against him like this. It made him uneasy – mostly because he felt compelled to pull her in closer, but he refrained.

On the other hand, Hinata remained completely oblivious to the torment that she was inflicting on him as she leaned forward to rest her chin on his shoulder. He turned his head around instinctively to look at her when he felt a weight resting on him, and he cursed himself for doing so when he came face to face with her round pearlescent eyes. She looked at him with the innocence and curiosity of a child.

He stared at her quietly for a long moment, captivated by her gaze, when Shikamaru decided to interrupt the moment with a dry cough. Sasuke whipped his head around to acknowledge the man, whereas Hinata slowly peeled herself off him and put a respectful distance between them on the couch. Sasuke could tell that the gears were grinding hard in Shikamaru's brain as he eyed the two of them carefully, but to Sasuke's relief he did not comment on what he saw. Instead, he merely ordered Sasuke to proceed into the recording studio.

The moment the door of the small room was shut, Sasuke could finally focus on his job. It was annoying how easily distracted he could get when Hinata was around. He held up the piece of paper with the lyrics of the song written on it and proceeded to record his verse following Shikamaru's instructions. The last time he had rapped to a slow-paced song was in his trainee days, so in a way the experience was rather nostalgic for him.

It did not take long for him to finish recording his verse. Shikamaru made him run through a few short lines over and over, which led Sasuke to infer that he was a perfectionist despite how he carried himself. Yet, he was surprised by how quickly the recording session ended.

The moment he exited the room, Hinata bounded up to him like an excited puppy. "Sasuke-kun, you did well!" she cheered. He could not help but smile at her encouragement.

"You did well," Shikamaru readily agreed. Sasuke bowed his head in gratitude upon hearing the producer's unexpected compliment.

"Sasuke-kun, do you want some honey lemon?" As Hinata said this, she held out a lilac-coloured thermos bottle out to him. "I-It's good for your throat." He accepted the drink with thanks since he was starting to get parched.

"This is Hinata's secret to singing well," Shikamaru commented as Sasuke took a sip of the drink. He peered over the rim of the bottle to meet the producer's gaze. "She drinks honey lemon everytime she has to record a song, and it always turns out well."

"You two have worked together before?" Sasuke asked.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah, several times actually. It is always a pleasure." As he said this, he gave Hinata a friendly smile. She was visibly happy at his words, so she turned around to return his smile with a toothy grin.

Sasuke handed the bottle back to Hinata and walked to the couch to retrieve his phone. Hinata's presence was starting to become overbearing again so it was his cue to leave, since Shikamaru did not seem to require his presence any longer. He could always see her some other time – just not anymore for today. He had to spend the rest of his evening reflecting on his situationship with her and figure out a way to deal with it.

"Hinata, since you're still here, I was thinking of having you record a harmony for Sasuke's verse." Hinata readily agreed and skipped into the recording room.

Sasuke paid her no mind as she did so. If anything, this was perfect, because it meant that she would not follow him out and he could carry on with his plan to be alone for the night.

However, his mood was immediately dampened when he clicked onto his chat notification with Kakashi.

H. Kakashi: Sorry I will be half an hour late to pick you.

H. Kakashi: A black cat crossed the road in front of my car just now. That's quite inauspicious, don't you think so?

H. Kakashi: I had to take a longer route to avoid the cat, but now I'm stuck in traffic.

Curse his manager and his stupid excuses.

Sasuke swallowed down an exasperated sigh and sank back onto the couch. It seemed that he was going to be stuck here for a while longer after all. Nevertheless, he could now distract himself with social media. Oh, the wonders of social media – for the first time, Sasuke was grateful that it had the power of sucking its users into a black hole. Maybe he could download Tiktok, so that there would be one more available black hole for him to plunge into.

However, he immediately lost his focus when Hinata began vocalising. Before Sasuke could realise what he was doing, he had put aside his phone to watch her sing into the microphone. There were no lyrics as she was simply belting out a tune to harmonise with his rap, but somehow that magnified the impact of her voice on the listener.

Hinata closed her eyes the whole time to channel the emotions of the song into her voice. Sasuke could only listen to her in wonder. Come to think of it, the last time he had heard her sing live was when they were trainees, but he was glad that he was hearing her in this moment. She had the voice of an angel, and Sasuke mentally kicked himself for thinking so.

When she was done, she turned to give Sasuke a wide smile while awaiting further instructions from Shikamaru. Sasuke nodded at her curtly, hoping that it was enough encouragement for her. She had to know that she was good. There was no way she did not. Shikamaru replayed the tune out loud multiple times to analyse it, and each time Sasuke's respect for Hinata's talent only grew.

"It's mostly good, but you should add more breathiness to the last note," Shikamaru finally said after a long moment of contemplation.

Hinata's giggle was picked up by the microphone, and it resounded within the four walls of the studio. Even her giggle is cute, Sasuke noted in dismay. He folded his arms and looked down absently at his lap.

Somewhere between the moment he heard her voice through the speakers and the moment she approached him for a hug after she was done, Sasuke acknowledged to himself with a bittersweet smile that he had already lost in the battle against Hinata which he had made up in his head. He would sell his soul to this pretty demon if she wanted it, and the thought alone was enough to scare him.