Day 6 Prompt: "If you fall, I will catch you"

Hinata's not entirely sure how it happened, but since that night at the bar, she's gone to lunch with Sasuke every day.

It started with him tapping her on the shoulder while she was in line at the sandwich shop. She had laughed and offered to pay for him, but he insisted he'd pay for himself. Still, they ended up sitting together and discussing the previous night. She noted his, to her at least, concern about how Ino ended up. Ino had texted her the next morning with a:

Thx :*

Hinata had told Sasuke she was all fine and thanked him for his concern. She asked him how his friends ended up, and she giggled at how he shrugged his shoulders while picking at his food, rolling his eyes.

"Same as always. Drunk idiots figure out their way home somehow."

Then, the next day, she saw him in line and repeated his actions on him. He actually looked happy to see her, and it made things inside of her tingle. Things she didn't know could tingle, like her upper arms and the space around her eyes.

And so it began, a regular routine of joining each other for lunch. Sometimes they got into some really deep conversations about climate change and corporate greed. Sometimes it was lighter, like about the most recent K-drama one had watched and reviewed for the other, or about the new Lana del Ray album that had come out (Sasuke promised to listen to it, even if he flinched a bit). On the other end, sometimes it was about the newest big game on Steam, like Elden Ring, that Hinata promised in vain she'd see if her measly computer could download. Sometimes they just sat quietly and ate, both seemingly lost in thought. That was especially surprising to Hinata, that they could just be…quiet.

It was nice.

Today, Hanabi throws the entrance door of the optometrist's office open and proudly marches past the front desk without care.

"Hiiiinaaataaa~!"

Hinata looks up, concern painted on her face as she tries to make sure she's paying attention to the patient while also acknowledging her little sister.

"Hanabi," she hisses, quietly, "hold on!"

Hanabi whines but knows better than to do more, tucks herself away. Hinata finishes up with the patient, pulls the door closed behind her, before approaching her much taller sister. She looks up, eyebrow raised, unapproving.

"What is it? I am working, dear sister."

"I made you lunch!"

Hinata immediately softens when Hanabi pushes a lunch bag into her hands, clearly proud of herself. Hinata smiles, taking it in her hands, feeling those nice things that happen in your body when someone does something genuine for you. She pulls it to her chest and bows, slightly, even if Hanabi giggles under her breath.

"Thank you, Hanabi," Hinata tells her, earnestly, and Hanabi wheezes, waving her away.

"I was trying out new recipes with my downtime! Wanted you to try, so call me selfish. Let me know what you think!"

Hinata watches as Hanabi skips off, winking at her over her shoulder, and Hinata waves. "Thank you, Hanabi!"

"That girl needs to learn some boundaries," Karin comments offhandedly, shaking her head. Hinata ignores it because she knows Karin isn't actually looking for a response.

As the lunch hour approaches, Hinata frowns, realizing that a homemade lunch begs for the question of why she should go to the food court to see Sasuke. It's become routine at this point, and she doesn't like the idea of leaving him hanging, wondering where she is. She looks at the packed lunch with a taut frown as noon is about to click by.

Decidedly, she grabs the lunch and still heads up to the food court and scans it. Sasuke isn't here, but that's no matter. She turns to the entrance and waits for him. When he turns in from the left as always, she tries not to run up to him, keeping her footsteps even. He stops upon seeing her, surprised because normally, they just eat wherever the person who got their first is standing in line at. It was an easy way to not force a decision on any one person, just whoever managed to make it to the food court first got to pick.

She holds out the lunch bag, smiling in vain. "My sister brought me lunch."

"Ah."

Silence passes over them because Hinata's unsure of how to proceed. She realizes more context is needed. "We can share, today, maybe? Instead?"

"Oh."

Sasuke's previously schooled expressionless face turns to mild surprise, and he tilts his head. Hinata turns to look behind her, off at a park across the street, and she quickly turns back to him. "We can eat at a park, today?"

Just a few seconds pass before she sees Sasuke's lips uptick into a smile, and he nods. "Sure. Why not?"

"Why not!" she repeats with laughter in her voice, leading them towards the elevator. It's not something she's usually very comfy doing, but Sasuke has successfully, over the past month, made her comfy taking the lead. He follows her easily, doesn't question her, and even compliments her on her taste sometimes. It's a big win as far as she's concerned.

They approach the sidewalk and Sasuke says, lightheartedly, "should we hold hands?"

Hinata looks up, freezing a bit, the lunch bag in one hand, her other hand free. She chokes out, "if it would make you feel better?"

She holds out her hand, not realizing that he was teasing her, but after a moment, he slots his hand into hers. They look both ways and cross. She lets out a breath when their hands part, looking slightly panicked because she can't believe she just did that, the realization dawning upon her that he was just being cheeky. He doesn't comment on it, and they find a patch of grass.

"I-sorry."

"You sorry?"

Hinata feels all the heat in her body pool into her cheeks as she looked down at the lunch bag she's trying to unload. "I am sorry…that I offered my hand, I didn't mean to…make it…weird."

"Don't worry about it."

It's so nonchalant, she blinks, wondering if it's really not as big a deal as she's making it.

Sasuke's actually pretty good at redirecting the conversation to something easier, asking her to give him updates on the latest K-Drama she watched, and she falls into comfort immediately. They eat the lunch together, even with Sasuke scrunching his nose up at the poor attempt at a rice ball and Hinata wondering if it bothers him to share a salad.

"You said you went to private school?"

Just as they're finishing up, Sasuke asks her this. She nods, wiping her mouth in the polite way she was taught, folds her napkin up nice and neat. She sees the little smirk she's come to associate with him, and she leans her head forward for him to continue.

"You ever had those?" He points off to the swing set, a familiar sight for any normal child, even Hinata.

She sputters, shaking her head. "Of course we did!"

"Prove it."

"What?"

He gets up without another word and walks to the set, plops himself into one of the seats, and starts swinging. She's baffled by the sudden assertiveness but doesn't let it hold her back. She gets up to her feet, too, gets into the swing next to him, and proves it. He just smiles at his feet without looking at her, but it makes her smile, too.

"We used to jump off these things when we got real high."

She kicks her legs, trying to get higher. With a little nod, she responds, almost yelling, "we did too!"

"Yeah?" he asks back, almost yelling, too. "Didn't think girls did that."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Boys at my school made fun of girls for not doing that."

"Sounds like the boys at your school are dumb."

A pause as they keep swinging, opposing in their strides so while she's up front, he's in the back.

"Yeah," he laughs out, and it's a sound she actually likes hearing. His laugh. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Suddenly, he hops off the swing, stumbling forward but ultimately catching himself upright. She watches him with a smile because his ready agreement is nice. Hinata finds herself having to close off from men too often, trying not to be argumentative even if she believes in something. Sasuke doesn't argue with her, just asks her nice questions or agrees, like he did now. He gestures to the ground in front of her.

"Come on, show me your best jump."

"I—I don't know!" she says back, loudly, gritting her teeth even as her legs kick. "It's been so long, I don't know if I can still without falling on my face!"

"I'll catch you!"

Hinata feels her heart skip because whether either of them likes it, it's kind of a romantic thing to say. His expression doesn't change, he even opens his arms a bit as if to show how willing he is to do it. She swallows, still swinging, still kicking.

Then, the intrusive thoughts in her brain that say 'what if you just did it' interrupt, and suddenly, she's flying from her seat.

It happens fast because the act of jumping out of a swing is fast. She lands on her heels, but the momentum of her body thrusting forward causes her to stumble, and she feels a hand on her elbow and an arm around her stomach, keeping her face from planting right into the sand.

So fast, she can't even process being jerked upwards, right into Sasuke's arms, that makes her think of when he caught her just a few weeks ago, that night at the bar. The way their foreheads pressed, a feeling that was so very comforting for her at the time, despite the immediate embarrassment that followed upon realizing what they were doing. But that doesn't happen this time, though she almost wishes it had. When it happened that night, she instantly was transported back to her younger self, comforting Hanabi when she had nightmares, the way she'd grab her close and push her forehead against Hanabi's. Comfort her until she fell asleep. Soon, it just became their way of connecting, even when they had good dreams, and they wanted to tell each other, they'd press their foreheads to one another. So when it happened with Sasuke…she liked it. It was familiar, comforting.

But now, he pulls her right up, with no romantic tension, just this nice smile on his face as he dusts at her arms. "See? I caught you."

"Yes." It's a breath, and she wishes it hadn't come out so whispy. He looks up at her, his smile slowly turning to concern, but she's getting better at projecting confidence, so she swings her arms out and smiles big. "Yes! I did it! And you caught me!"

"Y-Yeah," he responds, the concern fading from his face, his hands extending outwards, too.

They both take a step back, and they're both grinning like idiots.

Hinata thinks the soreness in her cheeks is actually welcome.