5th November 2016
A/N For every drop of disappointment, you show affection like that and it starts all over again. Cycles and cycles of I don't know how you feel about me, because I know you're not honest with me - then I break into a million pieces, like glass shattering.
To my bestie, with love.
Hot chocolate (just like old times)
Combing her hair awkwardly, Sakura positioned the curler and tried the first strands of pink on the right side of face. Securely clip, curl up in sideways motion, hold for 5 to 8 seconds, then unclip and release.
She sighed. It was looking a bit weird, but as she added on a bit of nice-smelling hair gel to try and hold her curls in place, she admitted that at least her hair now had a bit more volume than it normally did.
Sitting down on her bed, her mind full of thoughts about how this was probably putting way too much effort into something that she knew probably meant way less to Sasuke than it did for her, Sakura put the hair curler to rest.
He'd messaged her earlier this week all of a sudden, asking if she would "fancy a bite on Sat eve" because he knew a good and cheap katsu curry place. Sakura didn't know what to make of it, but it did make her look forward to her Saturday much more than she usually did. Which led to her (sort of) impulsively buying a hair curler because she really did need a bit of a new look, and (sort of) planning out her outfit a day before.
In her defense, she liked dressing up. It was probably the best part about going for night out, with Sasuke or not. Making sure all her Saturday chores were done, she began her prep at 5pm, even though she didn't have to actually leave the house until two hours later.
It turned out Sakura didn't really need two hours, so she brought out the Christmas tree under her bed and together with Ino, they set to work putting Christmas décor up. It was only November, but the weather was rapidly getting more reminiscent of what it usually was around this time of the year – very cold, windy and short hours of daylight.
"It looks bit on the skinny side, but otherwise pretty fantastic!" Sakura took a step back, clapping her hands happily.
"It does! When'd you have to be out for your date with Sasuke?" Ino asked rather slyly. Sakura blushed slightly.
"It's not a date, Pig. It's just a little dinner at some cheap katsu curry place."
"If you say so." Ino winked. Then when Sakura had put on her coat and picked up her bag, Ino shooed her out of the house.
"Katsu curry is good here. And it's cheap." Sasuke said bluntly when they were both browsing the menu. Their table was near the enttrance door, and because this place was so popular, every time someone came in, cold drafts of wind would hit Sakura's face. She wrapped her infinity scarf back around her neck.
"I think udon is good with me."
"Hn. Alright."
They ate in silence, punctuated by gentle slurping sounds from Sakura eating her tempura udon, and the noise that plastic chopsticks make when it hits china plates – Sasuke ordered katsu curry as he had planned. He never really did deviate from a plan, after all, Sakura mused as she watched him out of the corner of her eye.
He'd trimmed his hair a bit, even though she said last time that she liked his hair longer. He hadn't shaved though, even though she said he should if he was going to get his hair cut anyways.
As always, Sasuke never did listen to her much, she smiled to herself.
They decided to get some dessert, because dinner wasn't enough.
He said he knew a café that did good cakes, to Sakura's surprise. She didn't think Sasuke liked cake, in all honesty. And a good café it was too, definitely more of her thing than his, she thought appreciatively as they stepped into its threshold.
It was a lovely, old-fashioned little café with two floors of seating. On the first floor, a man played the piano for a bit of live music. The numerous types of cakes, fruit tarts, chocolate eclairs and other sweet goodness were laid out behind the window display. A kindly old woman stood near the cashier and told them there was more seating upstairs, so upstairs they went.
On the second floor, there were rather strange looking paintings all around the pale yellowish walls, and some handwritten writings in black around certain corners. Some of these writings were as long as an answer to an essay question in an exam; others were short quirky quotes.
One caught Sakura's eye; next to the CCTV camera in the room it read:
"This little eye, so small and handy for catching people's little behaviours. Except for catching the person who shot Kennedy. That was a blink of an eye."
They both ordered a hot chocolate, and it came, with a bit of cream and chocolate shavings on top. Just like old times, she thought as she sipped her glass. Having hot chocolate after a meal as dessert was one of those things they used to do when they were closer; when they were actually da-
"So you like this place then?"
Sasuke's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Yes. It's lovely," Sakura said simply.
And then, it was good conversation. They found common ground in work, in politics, in movies or shows they watched; Sakura told him about how her sister Sayaka was pregnant, and Sasuke told her about how he'd been called to do jury duty for the Hokage.
Both their hot chocolates were finished by now. It was getting late, and Sasuke said he was tired, so they headed off home.
On their way to the station, Sakura mentioned she'd tried to curl her hair with the new hair curler she'd bought. She wasn't sure if the hair curler had done the effect that she'd expected, and wondered if the curls were working on her.
"Yeah, I think it does work. You look pretty," Sasuke said quietly as they hurried through the crowds in the chilly weather.
Even though they were moving so quickly, Sakura heard his every word like it was in slow motion, and it was because she wanted to savour it, wanted to store it in her mind so that she could bring out this memory again and remember that Sasuke was capable of saying nice things like that, and because he didn't say nice things often, when he did he truly meant it. He didn't just say these things to anyone.
It wasn't like anything she'd expected tonight, but she also knew her expectations were this time around, disproportionate to what she knew to be the truth. Life often didn't live up to expectations, but that didn't mean it wasn't good.
And tonight, Sasuke had made it good.
- fin -
A/N There's some connection between each little drabble - if you haven't noticed already. Till next chapter x
