"Oh, hello Asuka. Come inside!" The girl smiled widely at her teacher, entering her house. "Good morning, Kushina-sensei. How are you today?" She asked, handing the woman the packet of sweets she had just bought. "Very good, thank you. At least my morning sickness stopped." Asuka made a disgusted expression. "That must be really gross, throwing up that much just because you are expecting a child." The red-haired woman snorted. "I'm more afraid of the actual birth moment, you know." Asuka closed her eyes and scrunched her mouth. "Don't make me think about that, sensei." Kushina laughed out loud. "But Asuka, what will you do when you become a mother?" The girl looked at her with half-lidded eyes. "Nothing that big will ever come out of my private parts. If I ever want to be a mother, I'll just adopt a kid, better if already independent. That will save lots of trouble." Kushina deadpanned, then mocked her student. "Yeah, let's talk about that in a few years, when you have a boyfriend, okay?" Asuka snorted. "I don't think I'll change my mind, sensei. But I will be more than glad to be a big sister to you child, anyway," she said, kneeling so that her face was level with Kushina's womb. "Hey, you hear me, little bean over there? I'll teach you all the cool stuff!" Kushina rested a hand on the top of her head and smiled fondly. "Thank you. I know you'll be a great big sister to this child." Asuka gave her a wide toothed grin. Kushina then clapped her hands together. "So, are you hungry? I heard you've just come back from a mission!" Asuka nodded. "Yeah, I came back yesterday, and I pretty much fucked around since then. Oops, sorry," she apologized, realizing the foul language she had used in front of her female sensei, "I'm just too used to being around testosterone-pumped men. I meant to say that I took it easy, and this morning I went to singing class with Rika-sensei." Kushina, in the meantime, resumed stirring whatever she was cooking in the pan, a nice fragrance spreading in the house. From the smell, it had to be meat with onions, bell peppers, spices, and other ingredients Asuka could not identify. She would eat all, anyways. "Right, how are your music lessons going? It's been, what, a couple of years now since you started?" Asuka shrugged. "Yeah, fine, Rika-sensei would like me to write more songs on my own, but it's so fucki… sorry, very difficult. The ones I actually wrote, she dismissed them saying they were not bad, but she expected more romantic stuff 'from a girlie girl' like me," she quoted her teacher in a mocking voice. Kushina laughed heartedly. "I'd like to listen to them, anyway. I see you brought your guitar with you." Asuka smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, maybe after lunch…" she conceded. She started setting up the table for lunch. "Wait, Asuka, set up for three people, will you?" The girl nodded. "Is Yondaime coming, too?" Kushina smiled, shaking her head and heading to the window, opening it and sticking her head out. "Lunch is almost ready, will you come inside?" the redhead asked. At that moment, a silver head popped up, and a one-eyed boy entered the room. "Thank you, Kushina-san," he said, then looked at Asuka. "Hey there, mole." The girl looked at him, confused. "Kakashi… What are you doing here? … Hey, wait a moment, what did you call me, again?" She suddenly realized; she could literally see the smirk under his mark. "Oh, so you already know each other!" Kushina exclaimed. Asuka kept glaring at Kakashi. "Yeah. Why are you here, anyway?" she asked, and the boy sighed. He didn't really feel like explaining his mission. "He's my personal bodyguard, you know?" Kushina intervened. "My anxious husband appointed him to protect me during my pregnancy, since during this period the seal to the Kyuubi can weaken." Kakashi frowned. Asuka knew about the Kyuubi inside of the woman? Well, Kushina being her teacher, he guessed that made sense. He felt the girl's glare on him intensify. "You'd better do a nice job and protect her, understood?" He snorted. "What, do you think you could do better than me?" he asked, mockingly. She got closer to him, eyeing Kakashi menacingly. "Of course. I could beat your sorry ass whenever I feel like it," she said. "Bring it on, then," he said, smirking. "Ok guys, as much as I would love to see you fighting over my well-being, I guess it's time to eat. If you still feel like it, after lunch we could all do a little training together, you know?" Kushina said, easing the atmosphere. She had to admit she was seriously surprised by Kakashi. He didn't seem so apathetic as usual. She eyed Asuka: her student, too, was a little different than usual. Always arrogant and foul-mouthed, but with a particular glint in her eyes. She smirked; that was unexpected. She would surely tell Minato about it.
"So good, Kushina-sensei!" Asuka exclaimed, hungrily eating from her plate. Kakashi eyed her, his expression somewhat disgusted. "I would have never thought that a 'girlie girl' like you could wolf down food so eagerly," he teased her. Kushina giggled, seeing her student's deep blush. "I… I just happen to have a healthy appetite!" She defended herself, "And, were you eavesdropping what I said before?" Kakashi promptly ignored her and turned to the red-haired woman. "It is indeed very good, Kushina-san," Kakashi continued, thanking the woman. She smiled warmly at him. "You seem a lot more talkative than usual, Kakashi. I'm glad to see you're friends with Asuka." Now it was his turn to blush. He eyed the girl, then his plate. "I don't think we are friends, Kushina-san. After all, we've met only once before." He heard Asuka snort. "Yeah, but we've already treated each other to ramen, don't you remember?" Kakashi looked questioningly at her just as Kushina spoke excitedly, "That's great! When you treat each other to ramen, it means you're friends, you know? Our team always used to do that when we returned from missions! Do you remember, Asuka?" Said girl nodded happily. "I wonder how Midori and Gyon are, now…" Kushina continued, gripping her chin pensively. Kakashi remembered someone more or less his age with those names, but he had a hard time associating them to faces. "They're still chuunin. Midori wants to become a teacher at the Academy, while Gyon has been admitted into the Cryptanalysis Team," Asuka informed her sensei. "That's great," she replied, smiling.
As soon as lunch was over, Kakashi headed to the door. "Where are you going?" Kushina asked him, and he frowned. "I need to resume my mission; I'm going to patrol around your house," he replied. "Oh, just wait a little more! Asuka is going to sing for us, you know?" Said girl splattered the tea she was drinking. "What?" She asked, drying her face with a napkin. Kushina stared questioningly at her. "You said that to me before lunch!" Asuka blushed, embarrassed. "Yeah, but I meant I would be singing for you, sensei… I didn't think there would be other people listening…" She looked down. Kakashi, what's more. He would surely make fun of her. The boy looked at Asuka's deep red face and sighed. "Heh, it's not like I want to listen to you singing, I'd like to have a good digestion." That said, he thanked the Hokage's wife for the meal and exited the door. Kushina looked at the closed door, shaking her head. "Minato should have taught him better manners," she exhaled. Asuka, on the contrary, felt relieved, and somewhat thankful to Kakashi. Maybe he had sensed her discomfort. "Back to us two, it seems!" Kushina grabbed her student's guitar and handed it to her. "So, let me hear your songs!" Asuka smiled sheepishly at her teacher, taking her guitar from Kushina's hands.
Kakashi closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. He had suppressed his chakra and was currently hidden under the window of the living room in the Hokage's house, listening to a song about two friends meeting at a hospital, then another one about a fight, then another one about the ghost of a woman in her dreams, apparently. Asuka was good, but he could see why her music teacher had told her how she lacked romanticism. Not that he minded, however. Her voice was strangely soothing. He didn't understand why she would be ashamed of it. Yes, a well-tuned voice was certainly not the first ability a ninja should possess, but it was something else that made her stand out from all those plain normal people. Like that mole under her left eye, disturbing the symmetry of her face. She would have been only another boringly pretty girl without it. When she finished singing, Kushina showered her with compliments. "You're always so good, Asuka! Don't listen to your teacher, who cares if they're not love songs?" The girl chuckled. "Sensei, have you heard yourself? 'Don't listen to your teacher.' A very irresponsible suggestion coming from you!" Kakashi heard Kushina snort. "Yeah, well, you should never listen to people who only want to limit you. And I'm not trying to badmouth Rika-sensei. What I'm trying to say is that you should always stay true to yourself and never act against your beliefs, no matter what other people may tell you, ok?" The two kunoichi were silent for a while, so Kakashi could not really tell what was going on, but he guessed there was nothing to worry about. "Also," Kushina resumed, "I hope you haven't gotten upset about Kakashi's words… That guy can be quite rude, sometimes." Said boy's eyebrow twitched. "Actually, sensei," Asuka replied, "I think he's been quite nice. He saw I was embarrassed by his presence and left." So she had understood that, uh? "Do you think so?" Kushina asked. "I do. It's… I really don't know why, I just spoke to him a couple of times, but I feel as if we're on the same wavelength. And, for some things, we are alike… I mean… my grandma, his dad…" Kakashi frowned. "…us both being in the ANBU at such a young age… feeling responsible for your loved one's deaths… I don't think he's truly the cold-blooded assassin everyone depicts him. I really want to try being his friend. I think he's just… lonely." Kakashi's heart froze. Did she really think of him that way? He clenched his jaw. 'Don't get close to other people. You'll lose them, eventually,' he said to himself. But it was difficult. He already had a soft spot for Minato-sensei and his wife, he couldn't let himself grow attached to Asuka. Their life as shinobi was too difficult. What if they died, too? He would surely break down. Lost in his thoughts, he almost missed Kushina calling him. He made his chakra detectable again and entered from the window. "You called, Kushina-san?" He asked, feigning indifference. "Yes. What about going out for that training session we discussed about earlier? If not, don't worry. I'll be going out with Asuka, and she'll be my bodyguard for the afternoon," she asked, smiling. He glanced at the girl. She was trying to avoid his eyes, looking at the sofa, then at the light above the table, then at the kitchen. 'Say no, say no, say no,' he repeated to himself. "Ok," he whispered. Kushina clapped her hands together. "Great! Let's go! It's been so long since I watched two young shinobi spar… I'm so excited." Kakashi was trying to convince himself he had accepted only because of his duty to protect the woman.
When they got to the training grounds, Kushina was even more excited than before. "You know what I realized? Since you, Asuka, were my student, and you, Kakashi, were Minato's student, this is actually a match between my husband and I!" She clenched her hand in a fist and looked intensely at the girl. "Asuka-chan, you can't lose to him, you got it? Not only do you have to fight for all the kunoichi out there who feel inferior to men, you need to win to prove to my husband that I am better than him at teaching!" The girl was looking at her sensei with a hesitating smile. "I'll… do my best?" she said, not willing to disappoint the woman's expectations, but sensing the weight of the responsibility she was carrying upon herself. "Kakashi, even though I hope you'll lose, don't go easy on Asuka, ok?" He raised his eyes, sighing. What kind of encouragement was that? They got to the middle of the training ground and formed the seal of confrontation with their right hands, to signal the start of their sparring. Immediately, Asuka sprinted forward, trying to punch Kakashi in the face, but just as her hand was about to hit the boy's jaw, he guarded, simultaneously raising his leg to kick her in the side. However, seeing it coming, she warded off his leg with hers and elbowed Kakashi in the face, effectively hitting him. She sighed hearing Kushina's joyful cries. She focused back on Kakashi, who didn't seem perturbed in the slightest by her blow actually hitting the target. He formed a few seals ('What insane speed,' Asuka thought) and released a ball of fire from his mouth. Asuka had just the time to swear before throwing herself to the ground and erecting an earth wall in front of her that blocked out the fire.
"What's going on, here?" Minato asked his wife, sitting down next to her. She looked surprised. "Why are you here, dear?" He frowned, annoyed by the fact that Kushina had simply ignored his question. "I felt Kakashi's chakra rise and wondered if everything was alright," he confessed. His wife patted his thigh and grinned at him. "Yup, everything's ok. They are just entertaining me, you know?" She giggled, pointing at the currently sparring shinobi. "Is that Asuka?" Minato could not believe his eyes. His pupil was sparring with another human being like a normal kid. He was stunned. And it also seemed as he was enjoying himself.
"Hey Kakashi, don't even think to lose against Asuka!" The two ninjas turned their heads towards the voice. "Why is Yondaime here?" The girl whispered, but she had little time to be surprised, as Kakashi's raikiri blew down the earth wall that separated them and threatened to do the same with her. She dodged at the last second with a backflip. Earth was weaker than lightning, so… Wind release was it. She exhaled a powerful wind blast from her mouth, that hit Kakashi straight in the chest. Had that been Kakashi, at least. In a puff of smoke, the ninja turned into a log. "Fuck," she cursed. Where was he? She felt a rustle from behind her, and grinned, turning around with a 180° spinning kick. "That could seriously chop off your head…" Minato commented, from the sideline. "That's my girl! Go, Asuka!" Kushina cheered, but another puff of smoke revealed she had almost decapitated a shadow clone. The kunoichi was getting frustrated. Where the hell had Kakashi gone? She couldn't sense his chakra anywhere. She bit her finger and was about to perform a summoning when she felt a hand close around her ankle, and her body quickly pulled into the ground below. "Earth type style: inner decapitation!"
She couldn't believe it. She fucking couldn't believe it. She was in the ground – in the ground, for fuck sake! – up to her neck. This was supposed to be one of her techniques, an earth release. Kakashi was towering over her, his right hand clad in a Raikiri and his left casually on his hip. His red sharingan was staring at her, and she diverted her eyes. Even if she freed herself, Kakashi would lose no time and hit her. God, how she hated losing. She pouted, as she heard Kushina and Minato approach. "Well done, Kakashi!" Yondaime was praising the boy, patting him on the shoulder. He covered his left eye with his forehead protector, then he crouched down on the ground in front of her and dug an arm in the earth, grabbing her trapped arm and pulling her on her feet. "You fought very well, Asuka," her teacher told her, trying to cheer her up. "Yeah, and I lost anyway." She then eyed Kakashi. "Don't think it's over, Kakashi. I want a rematch. Next time, I'll win," she told him, extending her hand in the seal of reconciliation. The boy chuckled and put his fingers on hers, effectively putting an end to their sparring. "As if I'd let you win," he said. Minato nudged Kushina and the two took their leave. Kakashi frowned. "Shouldn't you be in your office, sensei?" The Hokage smiled and shook his head. "I'll just stay with my wife for the rest of the afternoon. Make sure to walk Asuka back home," he concluded.
"Do you want to have an ice cream?" Kakashi immediately regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Why did he ask her? He could not become friends with her, that he had already decided earlier. She eyed him playfully, raising one eyebrow. "Your treat?" He raised his eyes and sighed. 'Say no, say no!' "Fine." He sighed.
He did not miss the curious looks of the people they crossed path with. The infamous copy-ninja, friend-killer Kakashi together with the only daughter of the Third Hokage, the Sarutobi Princess. That was truly a sight to behold. He could imagine their conversations, asking what a celebrity like her had to do with a scumbag like him. "You know, for someone wanting to appear such a lone wolf, you give people too much credit," he heard Asuka say, then glanced at her. She was smiling, but was looking in front of her. "People talk too much about things that do not concern them," she stated. She then turned to him. "What you should be worried about is the money you're spending on my ice cream… I'm having the biggest one!" She exclaimed, grinning widely. And she kept her word. The biggest, and most expensive ice cream of the shop. Not that Kakashi couldn't afford it. He had more money than he needed, considering his record of accomplished missions and the fact he didn't have many expenses. "Is this included in your 'healthy appetite' blabbering?" He asked her as she ate. "This is just gluttony. But that's nice, at least I know which hell circle I'll end up in." He smirked. "Aren't you having one?" She said, pointing at her cone. He shrugged. "Nah, I don't really like sweet things." She raised an eyebrow. "But you were the one who came up with this idea… Oh!" Her face suddenly lit up, then she looked at Kakashi with a nasty smirk, elbowing him in the side. "You just wanted to spend time with me, uh?" Kakashi was glad his face was almost entirely covered, because he knew he was blushing. "Ah, how could anyone blame you, come on, look at me, the most beautiful and most skilled kunoichi in the village!" She joked, and he snorted. "You might as well end up in the hell circle for proud people, you know?" He teased, and she laughed out loud, nodding. Kakashi felt the corners of his mouth pull up in a smile.
"I was listening before, when you were singing," Kakashi confessed, as they were strolling around Konoha. "You're good." Since he hadn't received a reply, he glanced at the girl next to him. Her cheeks were red. He tried to ease the atmosphere. "For someone who likes to brag about their qualities, you sure are shy about certain topics," he said, mimicking her earlier comment. Asuka shrugged. "It's… something important to me. I know it's silly that a kunoichi might lose time with something so trivial, we're at war after all, but… I mean… Don't you think we have to hang on to something that still makes us feel more than simple soldiers, more than war machines, that makes us feel just… human?" She looked intensely at Kakashi. "I'm sorry, I guess it's all bullshit I'm saying, please don't mind me," she then hurriedly added, waving her hands in front of her, trying to minimize her words. He closed his visible eye and focused back on the street ahead of them. "No, I think you're right." At least, she could still manage not to become a heartless being. What about him, though? Maybe he wanted to become one. If you don't feel anything, that means you won't feel pain, ever again. But was that really what he wanted? He glanced at her. Maybe not. She had mentioned them being similar, when she was speaking to Kushina. "What happened to your grandmother?" He asked. She turned to him, taken aback. "I heard you speaking with Kushina-san, earlier," he explained. She bit her lower lip, as if internally debating whether or not to reply.
"She was a great kunoichi, her fuuinjutsu was second to no-one. Maybe only to the sealing abilities of the first Hokage. You know, she told me she even seduced him when they were young. Well, that was before they both married other people, but still… quite impressive, uh? She was super requested for missions, and she quickly became famous all over Konoha and the other lands. She never stopped her activity, and kept accepting mission even after becoming a mother, and a grandmother after that. I loved when she came back and told me her stories. But she was also strict… Once she kept me fasting until I managed to learn a jutsu, and she would always scold Asuma for his I-don't-give-a-damn attitude. And with Toshiro… no, he was a genius, so he was her favourite grandchild." Asuka paused briefly, looking at the sky.
"Six years ago she left on a mission. I was 8 at the time, and while she was away I finally graduated from the Academy and became a genin, so I was looking forward to giving her the good news, however… when she came back, she was not the same person. While on her mission, she had been subjected to genjutsu. She, who liked to brag about her innate resistance to illusions, had become a victim of one. Under the influence of genjutsu, she had revealed some important secrets about the barrier that surrounded Konoha at the time, and she had killed her teammates. When she returned, someone had already broken into the village and tried to murder the Hokage, which was my dad at the time, but luckily the perpetrators had been captured and sentenced to life imprisonment. When she returned, I was saying, she was still under the genjutsu. When she tried to murder my dad, her son-in-law, my mother succeeded in releasing her from the spell. Even though it was not her direct fault, and thus she was not punished by the Hokage, people started speaking behind her back. She was being shunned and isolated by those shinobi she had been friends with since their childhood. Guilt overcame her, and she eventually broke down. I was the one who found her body." Her teeth clenched as she whispered that last sentence, remembering the scene as clearly as if it had happened the day before.
Kakashi couldn't speak. He couldn't even move, actually, and he had to force himself to breathe. Memories about his father suddenly flooded his mind, and he desperately tried to put them back in the corner they had been until then. He could see Asuka's lips move, but he couldn't hear a word she was saying. "I… I…" he stuttered, "I can't." He disappeared.
Asuka looked at the spot where Kakashi was up until a moment before and felt powerless and guilty. "I'm an idiot," she muttered. She had screwed everything up.
Kakashi was tired. He felt his eyelids close, but he immediately opened his eyes. He couldn't fall asleep on his mission. The day before, after he had so cowardly escaped from his conversation with Asuka, he had gone to the Forest of Death, wanting to desperately vent out his frustration on something, anything, dangerous, just to avoid thinking about his father. He had come back in the middle of the night, not severely injured, but still he hadn't been able to rest, because his sleep had been haunted by nightmares. That morning he had woken up more tired than the night before, but at least his mind seemed to have settled; at least it could still formulate sensible thoughts. He noticed Kushina worriedly looking at him through the window, and turned the other way. He had worn his ANBU mask and cloak today, as he had done at the beginning, when his mission was supposed to be kept a secret from Kushina. She had discovered about it a month later, though, and had forced Kakashi 'not to act like a total creep,' asking him to leave his mask and cloak home and even inviting him in for lunch, even though he had forced himself to accept only one day a week. He didn't want to be a burden to the person he was supposed to protect, after all.
After three days, Kakashi was still in his creepy attire and attitude, and Kushina was starting to feel pissed. After another two days, one morning when she had woken up already annoyed ('thank you so much, pregnancy hormones'), she opened the window to her living room and yelled Kakashi's name. She could see the look of terror in the people that were passing by her house. Good. "You called?" The boy asked, showing up a few seconds later. "Take off that creepy thing on your face and that awful cloak you're wearing." Kakashi twitched at the tone of her order and complied. He was starting to remember stories from Minato-sensei where his wife suddenly turned into a demon woman, and shuddered. "Is… is there a problem, Kushina-san?" The woman crossed her arms. "Actually, yes, there are. A few. First of all, what's up with that outfit? I thought I told you to come with your ordinary clothes." Kakashi looked down. "I think it's better to go unnoticed…" he was cut off by Kushina. "Unnoticed my ass, Kakashi. You stick out like a sort thumb, you know?" He shrugged, and looked away. Why did she even care? It was not as if he was neglecting his mission, after all. "Second. What happened between you and Asuka?" His jaw clenched. "Nothing," he replied. "Oh, nothing, you say?" Kakashi felt a bead of sweat run down his back. "Then why a few days ago, when you were supposed to walk her home after your sparring, she stormed here crying about screwing up?" She did? "It… does not concern you, Kushina-san." Did he want to die? Kushina was furious. "Oh, dear, I guess that the moment my student comes to me crying for something you did, looking for advice, well, I think it starts to be of my concern, too." Kakashi sighed. "What did she tell you?" "Not much. Just that she had screwed everything up and that she had made you mad. Did you try to take advantage of her, Kakashi?" He looked gravely at her, offended. "Of course not." "Then, what did you do?" He looked down. His sandals were pretty worn out. He needed to buy new ones. "I asked her about her grandma," he said, biting his lips, "and then I escaped because I couldn't bear the thoughts that were coming to my mind." He ended his speech almost whispering, still not looking at Kushina. The woman's rage dissipated instantly. "Haven't you talked to her since then?" The boy shook his head. He was probably still grieving about his father. After all, he was alone, Asuka was right about that. "She just wants to be friends with you, Kakashi," she said, and he was surprised by her now soft voice. He shook his head. "I can't lose another friend, Kushina-san." The woman could see the pain in his eyes, and her eyes suddenly felt watery. Despite his reputation, Kakashi was a very sensitive boy, and had a gentle heart. She got closer to him and put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly. "Isolating yourself from the world won't make you feel better, Kakashi. We need other people, it's our human nature." He wasn't looking at her. She put her other hand on his other shoulder, and forced him to look at her in the eye. "I understand you're afraid. Me too, every time Minato leaves on a mission, I am scared he might not come back. I'm scared I'll have to raise my son in a world at war. But I choose to believe in my husband, and I choose to believe peace will come. You have to make a leap of faith, here. Not just with Asuka. I bet you could have ton of friends, if you loosened up. Or, just start with one. Pain won't disappear by being alone." When Kushina hugged Kakashi, he stiffened. He couldn't remember when he had been hugged before. Sensing his discomfort, the woman quickly pulled away. Kakashi brought a hand to his neck, scratching it. "Kushina-san, I just remembered there's something I must do… I mean…" The woman smiled. "Yeah, go, don't worry about me, I can take care of myself for one day." The boy nodded, thanking her, and left.
Asuma was surprised when Kakashi asked him about his sister's whereabouts. He sighed. "What has that idiot done, now?" He informed Kakashi that she was currently away on a mission, but that she should be back that day. So, there he was, at Konoha's main gate. It was almost six in the evening, and the sun would soon set. He had been there for the last six hours, waiting for Asuka. Just when he was about to give up and go back, he noticed four figures appear. As they approached, he recognized one of the masks, the tiger, as the captain of Team Mu. With him came two men, one with a fox mask and the other with a frog mask, and behind them walked a girl wearing a monkey mask. He had never seen Asuka in her ANBU uniform; she seemed older and more serious than usual. He wondered if Kushina-san would describe her as 'creepy', too. The three men crossed the gate, nodding at Kakashi. Asuka stopped, but didn't say anything. "Are you coming, Saru?" The man in the frog mask asked her. She moved as if to follow her team, but her captain stopped. "It's ok, you're all dismissed. I'm going to report to Yondaime." That said, the three men scattered, and Asuka was still in front of Kakashi, still with her mask on, still silent.
Six hours, he had waited six fucking hours, and he still didn't know what to say. He mentally insulted himself, as he tried to stutter an apology. "I… I…" he glanced at Asuka. She didn't seem to have moved from her spot. Or breathed. He closed his eye and inhaled deeply, thinking back to Kushina-san's words. "I'm sorry for running away, the other day. It was really lame. But that was a very uncomfortable topic for me. I hope you're not angry at me, but if you are, that would be legitimate on your part. I guess I fucked up." She remained still and silent for a while, then she lifted her mask. The sunset light hit her wavy brown hair and highlighted its warm color. Maybe it was the light that made her smile so bright and warm. "I'm so hungry," she told him. "Let's treat each other to ramen, are you in?" He smiled back. Maybe it was the light, but he felt something inside his chest warm up, too.