safety [Kakashi Hatake x OC]

thirty-six

Kakashi recognized Kotetsu talking to Eri immediately. They were, after all, comrades and fellow shinobi of Konoha. He also knew him to be a young man who was charming, funny, and went after what he wanted. He knew the look in his narrow eyes; the flirtatious spark was obvious.

But the white-haired man's instinct to protect his roommate was ignited in assuming she was not aware of Kotetsu's intentions.

'Damnit, Eri...' He cursed to himself. He wasn't mad at her. He just held an internal frustration that he failed to truly understand. Still, he composed himself, but didn't hesitate to approach them. After all, he was the one that she went to bed with.

"Eri." He hummed loudly, making his presence known with his closed-eye smile.

"Hey." She immediately dropped whatever she was talking with Kotetsu about and focused on her roommate. 

"You know Kakashi?" Kotetsu asked. He stood straighter and more proudly in the older man's presence. 

"Of course." Eri beamed. Kakashi smirked confidently. Kotetsu stiffened insecurely; he knew that his superior was no one to mess with. "I was waiting for him when I ran into you."

"Oh." The dark-haired man blinked in shock. "I've always taken you as a private person, Kakashi. I didn't think you'd be friends with such a pretty young woman." He grinned tauntingly.

Kakashi's expression didn't falter, though he tried to keep his brow from twitching in annoyance as he retorted, "You thought wrong." Normally, he was so stoic and unaffected by such things, but clearly, anything regarding Eri was not "normal."

"It's the mask." The girl joked. "It makes him seem much scarier than he is."

"Seriously?" He furrowed his brows at the girl.

"What?" She shrugged. "It's true."

"Wow." Kotetsu muttered. "You two are pretty close." 

"We are." Kakashi declared. "Now, we need to get going." He tried to dismiss the dark-haired man, whom he looked at as a boy in his own arrogance.

"Ah, yeah." Eri agreed, sensing her roommate's urgency. "Sorry to rush off. See you around, Kotetsu." She smiled kindly as Kakashi placed his hands on her shoulders and physically started to push her away from him.

Hours later, Eri and Kakashi cooked together for dinner. He had been suspiciously quiet and closed off since he met her in the busier streets of the village that morning.

Finally, he started to crack, blurting out what had been on his mind in a low voice. "How was your morning with your boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend?!" She coughed, nearly dropping the knife she was using to cut vegetables. 

"Kotetsu Hagane." He clarified with a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Kotetsu's just a friend." She laughed, looking at her cold roommate in disbelief. "Believe it or not, I'm actually making friends."

"Good for you." He didn't seem to believe her words.

"Are you jealous?" 

"Why would I be jealous?"

"Because I'm making friends outside of just you." She didn't get it, but in her defense, he didn't either.

"I'm not jealous." He still wouldn't look at her.

"Don't worry." She hummed, gently wrapping her arms around her moody roommate's muscular torso and pressing her cheek to his back. He stiffened, then laid back into her hug. "You're still my favorite."

He sighed heavily. He felt relieved, though he didn't know why, but the girl could feel the tension leave his muscles.

"Is that all you needed to hear?" There was a mischievous tone at the end of her words. "That you're my favorite?"

The man grunted, not able to bring himself to come up with a clever response.

She shifted slightly, moving one of her hands to his chest, tracing his pectoral muscles with her fingers. "Besides, how am I supposed to have a boyfriend when I share a bed with you?" She chuckled nonchalantly.

Kakashi wanted to turn around and hold her. Part of him wanted to call her his own, but he dismissed it as nonsense.

So, he let things stay as they were. After a few quiet seconds, she let go of him and returned to cutting vegetables. Even moments after she stepped away, he still felt the sensation of her arms around him and her body at his back.

The fact that they lived together wasn't a secret, but it wasn't something they were going to advertise, either. No one needed to know. They were friends, even close friends, and that was a threat enough to anyone who may eye one of them with more-than-friendship intentions.