Kakashi hugged himself tighter as he watched a grey-haired man across from him mutter to himself in strange tongues. This was one of his favorite pastimes. Riding on the city bus, late at night. It was nice to see people crazier than yourself.
Kakashi looked out the window at the passing landscape. His stop was coming up. His attention was called back to the man by a sudden scream of "NO!" The man was now clutching his head and shaking it. Kakashi shifted himself further away. He pulled the cord hanging by the window and heard the familiar ding somewhere in the front.
The bus came to a stop at a desolate corner. As Kakashi stood to leave, the man grabbed him by the wrist. Kakashi tried to pull away from the man, but he held tight.
"What the hell?" Kakashi said, trying again to get out of the man's grip. The man looked up at Kakashi with wide eyes and quickly let go. He looked out the window and continued the conversation to himself. Kakashi continued down the aisle, watching a woman pull her sleeping son closer to her in fear.
As he passed the driver, he muttered thanks, but the driver paid him no mind. He was looking into the rearview mirror, eyes darting between the old man and the woman and child.
Once the bus drove off, Kakashi continued toward a mediocre apartment complex. As he walked the two blocks up the street, his mind raced back to earlier events. No matter what excuse Kakashi could come up with, he couldn't figure out how to explain to Iruka what last night had meant to him.
Kakashi looked at the sky. It was dark, overcast, and swollen with the promise of rain. His hand moved to his pocket. The wind picked up and the moon moved in and out of the clouds. Kakashi looked up and took a left into the apartment complex.
Kakashi had walked past the first three buildings, climbed the two flights of stairs and now stood outside a door marked B-14. He stood outside the door, quiet, and listened for noise on the other side. When he heard nothing, he opened the door. Kakashi stepped in silently and closed it. At first, he couldn't see, but as his eyes adjusted he saw Iruka on the couch.
"Asleep," Kakashi thought. He wanted nothing more than to than to go over and wake the sleeping Iruka, and apologize for all the stupid shit that happened. Then in some inexplicable way, Iruka would understand and forgive him. But that scene would never play, and Kakashi was too much of a chicken-shit to wake him up.
So he moved past Iruka and headed towards their bedroom.