safety [Kakashi Hatake x OC]

seventy

Eri's comment made the said man's blood run cold. Perhaps he had gone too far. It was hard to know the limits when they had two different sets of memories. He couldn't bring himself to say anything.

She tucked a mauve lock behind her ear and brought the other half of it to one side, letting it dance and tangle within in the wind, not clumsily around her face, getting caught in her mouth and eyelashes. She brought her knees to her chest, and rested her chin on them, focusing on the village below and not the man beside her.

"All logic tells me not to trust you." She muttered. "Not to mention you do some pretty strange and invasive things."

"Eri... I didn't- I- I'm sorry." Kakashi's voice showed how nervous and troubled he was.

"Ah, that's not what I mean." She corrected. "I have no reason to trust you. I shouldn't trust you. But... I feel like... I dunno." She dropped backwards, lying on the ground next to him. "I feel safe around you. Like a sense of safety that just doesn't make sense." She turned to look at him, finding him already staring at her. "And that scares the hell out of me."

He released a heavy sigh of relief, realizing that he had been holding his breath throughout her explanation. He laughed and reached out to her, taking a strand of her thick hair between his fingers as it sprawled around her head through the grass. "You know, there was a lot better way to say that than 'you scare me.'"

She chuckled. "I guess I could have." 

"Of all the ways I could die... to think it could have been something as lame as a heart attack."

"Are you an old man?"

"If that's what you're into."

"Pervert."

"You're still laughing."

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"I think it does."

"No it does not!"

"I think you like it."

They were turned on their sides, facing each other as if the world around them disappeared. Eri could feel the man's playful smirk glowing through his mask; even though she couldn't see it, she could imagine his face as he teased her.

Suddenly shy, she broke eye contact and pouted, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Who said I did?" She mumbled.

He placed a hand on her lower back, just where her waist was at its most narrow. He pulled her to him, and in a quick moment, one large hand was low on her back and the other pinched her chin, pulling it up as he hung over her ear. His breath tickled her, making her skin erupt in chills. "You did." He whispered in a low voice.

She whimpered, and when he released her chin, she dropped her forehead on his chest, embarrassed by everything that was happening. He gave a triumphant huff and rubbed her back as her goosebumps calmed.

But once she cooled down, she drew in his scent. He smelt like fresh shampoo and detergent, mixed with the clean earthiness of the grass around them. It was so familiar, yet she had couldn't remember anything other than how comforting it was. She relaxed, and started to melt within his arms. She was confused, but it felt so right, and she didn't want to leave it.