Cheeseburger In Paradise

People would call someone crazy to believe a grown, mature woman such as Hana was an incel. But let it be known that man would not be crazy, but a foreseer. What made her undesirable was beyond her understanding. She blamed the lack of good men or how others saw her as 'too strong' of a woman. It was what led her to seek professional help. But while her recruiters sought suitors, a separate branch of staff helped preen her into a desirable woman. It was a blue moon opportunity for the makeover staff to tell an adult woman to bathe, as Hana was well on a four day streak of not showering. The stress made it worse having to deal with the former Hokage, making the four days smell like eight. She had to deal with a unique process, showering once and waiting a couple hours before showering again, and then taking a treated bath. But in a jiffy all of her stank was washed off and she was like a new car again. Hana's hair was even revitalized taking on a more silky appearance than the usual thick locks. These makeover artists knew what they were doing.

Hana chose to dress in black feeling that it helped make her Kaguya perks stand out more. She was fair-skinned from head to toe having alluring golden eyes which were considered uncommon, but prized compared to the usual blue or green many Kaguya had. She wore low heel dress shoes which was all it took to kick her height up to a standing six feet, no longer being a womanlet. A pair of black thigh high stockings ended midway up her thighs, and these would be paired with an extravagant black dress which glorified her substantial milk tanks. She wore a pair of long black gloves whose design had the thumbs exposed for whatever reason. Hana didn't know. She just wore what the professional told her to. She figured they were to show off her painted nails, since a fully closed glove would hide those features. To top off her expensive outfit she wore a cluster of freshly picked, young red lilies.

The Mizukage was garnished with perfume, the brand alluding her, but the smell reminiscent of cucumber and mint. Sweet, delicious, and refreshing. Hana held a wallet in both hands close to her chest which was packed with fifty thousand ryo, her identification card, chewing gum, a coupon for two-for-one at a burger joint, and a couple crumbled receipts which undoubtedly came from burger places as well. These were her essentials. But today was not a burger day. According to her dating staff, burgers were 'beneath her' which left her confused and a bit frustrated as to what they were trying to get across. She contemplated a dinner location for a few days and eventually decided to search online for the highest rated place in Kirigakure and choose it on a whim. Hana didn't mind eating other dishes. I could do steak...or pasta. She thought to herself trying to avoid thinking about the kid's menu and ordering a burger from there.

Popping open her wallet she retrieved a stick of minty chewing gum, unwrapped it, and chomped on it in increments until it was fully chewed in her mouth. Balling off the foil wrapper she would normally toss it aside. But it occurred to her that this part of town wasn't the type to be littered. She would even feel guilty for tarnishing such a nice district. Instead, she opted for the bosom. But even that was off limits. Her dress covered her cleavage very well, and while normally she enjoyed stashing bits of junk in her cleavage (which Hana popularly referred to as 'the void') it would be too much effort to try and wrangle her hand inside her dress. So instead she held the bit of trash in a balled hand and resumed her prior posture. She stood outside of the restaurant for her first date to arrive. Unbeknownst to who it may be, Hana held high expectations. Slowly she'd chew on her gum and maintain vigilance of her surroundings.

It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this. Things got out of hand fast. Nothing went the way that Chigetsu had expected. She had arrived at the Mizukage’s office because she wanted to have a talk with Hana. After Calis had delivered that letter to her apartment there were a few things that Chigetsu needed to talk to the Mizukage about before she could dare accept. The fact that this was happening concurrent with the Chunin Exams complicated matters further. It was a lot of stress to be under all at the same time. Not that Chigetsu wasn’t used to stress and pressure, but it was all just so unexpected. It was why she had gone into the Mizukage Complex on that day searching for the woman, and put in the time of filling out that incredibly strange questionnaire-application. It was only after Chigetsu had filled out the form and went home that she was contacted for a meeting with Hana, and was informed of the truth of what had been happening.

Apparently Hana had been having a village wide application process to go on dates with her? Or something??? The explanation Chigetsu had received made her head spin. Something was explained to her about Hana needing a husband and the word ‘incel’, whatever that meant, but most of it just made Chigetsu so flustered that she could barely remember it. It was just like going to get your mail and getting slapped in the face by a fish or something non-sequitur like that. Just sheer shock. While Hana was objectively attractive, Chigetsu had never thought about her like that before. She could only wonder why such an obviously beautiful woman would need to go to all this trouble in order to try and find a husband. Wasn’t it sort of degrading to go about it like this so publicly? And moreover, if Chigetsu was accepted… Did that mean that Hana knew somehow about Chigetsu’s ‘unique’ situation? Or did it mean that Hana ‘swung’ in a certain way? There were so many questions. All of it was just so confusing. Chigetsu wasn’t at all prepared for anything like this. More than anything she had to show up as well to the date. Not going would have been such an incredibly faux-pas. Chigetsu could imagine being on the other side of that, waiting for a date to show up and then having them never come. It was heartbreaking. Despite signing up for it unknowingly she was now locked in and had to treat this seriously, lest she accidentally insult or offend Hana’s feelings.

Not only that, but it was scheduled to happen on Valentine's Day. Was this fate or something?

Chigetsu was just as inexperienced as Hana was apparently when it came to romance. At the same time though there was one advantage that Chigetsu did have. That was years upon years of reading romance novels and slash fanfiction on the internet. While obviously these situations weren’t real life, and thus probably shouldn’t be relied on extensively… They were close enough, right? Probably. This is what Chigetsu would think, and as a part of preparation for the ‘date’ she would go through a few of her old favorites. There were other things that had to be prepared for though. For one, what to wear? It was a more complicated question for Chigetsu than most others. It was a matter of what Hana was expecting. Chigetsu didn’t really know how much of a part Hana had in the selection process for this, or if both genders were allowed to apply, but she really could only assume that it wasn’t the case. As much as Chigetsu could have been wrong, her gaydar was never really set off during her previous interactions with Hana. It would mean that Chigetsu would have to go shopping for an appropriate outfit, and then there was the matter of her hair. Should she do something to it? Keep it the same? She didn’t have anyone to bounce these questions off of so she was resigned to just stewing with them. Then there was the Valentine’s Day aspect, and then did Hana know it was Chigetsu coming? Did Hana choose Chigetsu? There were too many things to account for…

---

Valentine’s Day came. Chigetsu was at the right place, at the right time, and inside the restaurant she would peek around, looking for her date. It would take her a second to recognize Hana, just because of the way she was dressed was so different from Chigetsu’s normal mental image of the woman. Of course, it was impossible to judge given how Chigetsu was dressed right now. With a white pinstripe dress shirt together with a grey buttoned vest and black tie, it was safe to say that Chigetsu was dressed very much different than usual as well. She had the entire suit look going on, with a matching white pair of slacks and white suede shoes to go with her white suit overcoat. The black tie and grey vest were the only imprints of color on her outfit, creating a contrast that stood out against the whiteness of her outfit and drew attention to the tie. If it wasn’t that she still had her signature white hair and braid Chigetsu would have been completely unrecognizable right now. This was probably the first time they had worn clothing made for men in years, and just by the way they were dressed now it was clear that their biological sex was just from a look. There was no illusion of girly outfits that could compensate for the flatness of her chest, and especially with the masculine quality that the suit gave off.  

Spotting Hana on the other side of the restaurant Chigetsu would come over, sporting a somewhat nervous smile as she did. A few scenarios ran through her head of what could happen here. Just the looks on Hana’s face. She probably wasn’t expecting Chigetsu to be here. Would she be disgusted when she learned that Chigetsu had been selected? Or that she signed up in the first place? It was impossible to know, but Chigetsu had prepared for this scenario too much to allow the thoughts to get to her. Hours of rehearsing what to say while on mock dates with a cardboard cutout of Hana wouldn’t be put to waste.

“Hana!” She would greet the Mizukage with a smile as she slipped into her seat, making herself comfortable. “It’s nice to see you! There were a lot of things I wanted to talk to you about, but first....” Somewhat hastily Chigetsu would pull a small pouch out of her pocket. The pouch would be placed on the table in front of Hana, and Chigetsu would open it up in front of the woman. Exactly as she had rehearsed. Inside the pouch was… what looked to be a little chocolate cheeseburger? It was so realistic looking that it was difficult to tell at first. The bun was made of a dark chocolate, and had little crushed nuts in it as sesame seeds. Colored food dyed was added along with layering of different pieces of chocolate to give the illusion of a layer of cheese, and even lettuce. The only thing that immediately set it apart from a real burger was that it was smaller and the color of the bun was clearly chocolate.

“Happy Valentine’s Day! I knew you liked burgers, so I thought well… I made it myself. I hope it's not too cheesy.” Chigetsu said it with an honest smile. It was incredibly cheesy. She had been considering leaving that last line out, but it was too golden to not say it, especially after all she had rehersed.

Spoiler:

A familiar voice cried her name beckoning Hanaburger to redirect her attention. Did her eyes deceive her? Was her first date Chigetsu? Hana had limited experience with Chi, only having run a couple missions with her and some training sessions. They stayed in touch for the most part, though Hana was oblivious Chigetsu had any interest in her. Looking at it in hindsight it sorta made sense. How timid she was and how she carried herself in public gave Hana a reason to believe she was shy being close to her crush. Look at you go. She thought to herself seeing the oh-so quiet Chigetsu flexing a new suit she most likely rented from Good Will. Where did this confidence come from? Is it the suit? Hana silently judged the pinkette as she approached their table. She was unsure how she even felt about dating another woman. It seemed...odd.

But Hana knew Chigetsu well enough. She knew that her confidence wasn't exactly top notch. In fact seeing how blunt the pinkette was spoke volumes about how happy she felt. It'd be brutal to shatter her high over personal preference. So the least Hana could do was give her a Valentines date. Hana kept a mental score to judge Chigetsu's success. She avoided being a cringelord by trying any of that 'M'lady' stuff on her or bringing flowers. Hana seated herself after Chi did, Hana's chest hammocks just a few inches from engulfing the tabletop. When she sat she casually opened her balled up hand letting the gum wrapped 'accidentally' fall onto the floor.

Before she could say much, Chigetsu continued saying she had so much to talk about. Now you wanna talk? There was so much Hana would normally just blurt out, but she minded her manners and wanted to be respectful. Not just for her date, but for Chigetsu. However Hana's patience would soon be tested following Chi's suspense. The Hozuki reached back and retrieved a small pouch. An noticeable swallow came from the Mizukage as she prepared for the worst. Flowers? A fake ring? Chocolates? She was prepared to smear Chigetsu as a normie despite her promise to be a good girl. Any of those cliche items would cut the cake. But Hana was metaphorically put back in her seat when Chi took her to class. Hana's eyes widened and mouth cooed at the sight of such glory. There were as many layers of irony as there were condiment. Hana was presented a cheeseburger made of pure chocolate and confectionery.

But that pun at the end was the coup de grace. Her cheeks flushed a light shade of pink. Puns normally made her cringe, but when timed in this ironic scenario it became a masterful meme. Something Hana rarely came up with. She was speechless for a moment, but didn't stay in awe for too long. She didn't want to spoil her dinner so she opted for one bite. Grabbing the parchment wrapper she rose the chocolate burger to her mouth and took a small bite— enough to get a little bit of everything. Chigetsu was not only creative, but a clever chef. The buns were a type of crunch cookie covered in dark chocolate, the nut topping being a good finish. The structure was mostly chocolate, aside from caramel, chocolate mousse, and nougat in the fray acting as condiments. It was basically a hyper-candy bar. And like all Kaguya women, Hana had a sweet tooth.

Hana cordially set the burger down in the pouch, wrapped the burger up, and set it on the table next to her wallet. She chewed slowly getting a good taste for everything before swallowing. "That's pretty tasty. So that suit. I mean, I didn't expect I was going to be meeting you. But you knew you were meeting me. Did you think you'd be the man out of the two of us?" Hana said teasingly. Being the tomboy she was Hana didn't submit to any man she considered dating. And in the female dating world she would never find herself being the girl in the relationship. Though of course this was all speculation on her end, having no real dating experience to go off of. Slowly she'd lean in with a sharp gaze beaming into Chigetsu's eyes as if she was interrogating her. Hana's bosom slowly pressed against the table top, the boobs naturally expanding as they were introduced with pressure forcing them outwards. Hana got low enough until she was fairly hunchbacked which allowed her to get closer to Chigetsu. With a stern glare she'd reiterate her question. "You think you have what it takes to wear the strappy?" A small smirk followed from her face, not being serious. But Chigetsu was shy, and it was naturally for Hana to provoke her.

Even with their assumed aura of confidence, Chigetsu couldn’t help but watch Hana's reaction nervously. It was one thing to talk the talk, but she also had to walk the walk. Just dropping all the stuttering, or at least most of it, and maintaining eye contact wasn’t going to be enough in a situation like this. Even with the strong power that the suit gave her. Chigetsu actually had to navigate conversations successfully and competently, and it would be impossible to plan for everything that could potentially be said. She had to be ‘charming’ and ‘personable’ and have a ‘personality’, whatever the hell that meant. At the very least Hana didn’t seem repulsed by Chigetsu’s very presence here, so that was a good start.

Her reaction to the chocolate burger seemed…. Good? Chigetsu had been expecting a laugh from it, along with the silly pun at the end, but seeing the slight tinge of pink that flushed into Hana’s cheeks was good too, even if a bit surprising. Without a word, Hana would reach down to take the choco-burger presented to her and test it out with a small bite. Chigetsu’s anticipation was palpable, but it seemed that the efforts she went to would be rewarded in the end. Following the slow chew and wrapping up of the burger, Hana’s first words would validate Chigetsu’s efforts here. She seemed pleased by it, and that made all the effort that Chigetsu went towards planning and making it worthwhile.

What Hana said next though, brought Chigetsu full circle into mood whiplash. She had prepared for a lot of things to happen on this date, going through flashcards of potential awkward things that might be said just to dull her anxiety and give her the chance to pre-plan her reactions, but this came out of left field. The comment on the suit was something she had seen coming, of course. It was a conscious effort to wear it, but the strange ‘Did you think you’d be the man out of the two of us?’ was something that slapped Chigetsu in the face like a big wet pool noodle. She had no idea what Hana meant by that. When Chigetsu decided to wear the suit, it came with the expectation that Hana would probably realize that Chigetsu was a boy. This was something that Chigetsu prepared for, but… Chigetsu wasn’t really sure if that was what Hana was commenting on? It was phrased almost like it was a challenge or a question or something. What did Hana mean? Did she not realize that Chigetsu was a boy? Or did she think that Chi just looked like a boyish-girl? It was flabbergasting, and she legitimately had no idea how to respond. The confusion was completely evident on Chigetsu’s face at that moment, and the poor girl would freeze up like a deer in the headlights. Her eyes were wide, and she would struggle for something to say.

That Hana leaned forward slowly and adopted the gaze of a hawk, her eyes piercing right into Chigetsu’s soul, only made it worse. Chigetsu would slowly lean back against her seat as Hana leaned forward, all while nervously smiling and trying desperately not to appear too visibly intimidated. The fact that all the movement very visibly seemed to squish and put emphasis on Hana's bust was something that Chigetsu also didn’t fail to overlook, and added another layer to the situation. Maintaining eye contact was hard with the owl-stare Hana was giving Chigetsu, but the only alternative to eye contact seemed to be staring right into her boobs, which was even worse. Chigetsu would settle on relucant eye contact.  

“I don’t understand-” She would slowly force out, although her mutter would be interrupted by the punchline of Hana’s teasing slamming right into Chigetsu’s face. Chigetsu would pause, completely stunned. Her face would immediately twist, and Chigetsu had to put every fiber of her being into the effort to not break out into uncontrollable laughter right in that second. It would have been rude, with the entire restaurant looking over at them. Her cheeks would puff out with it, and she would struggle to hold it back for a few moments, but eventually it would come out. She would be in hysterics, unable to control herself for a moment as she leaned back in her seat, nearly crying from laughing so hard.

It took a moment for her to control herself. In addition to being incredibly hilarious, it was an incredible ego boost for Chigetsu. Even like this she was so convincing that Hana still thought that she was a girl. It made Chigetsu’s chest swell with pride. “Oh gosh, and here I thought I prepared for everything! It turns out that was the one thing I forgot to bring with me…” She would say through repeated giggles, wiping a tear out of her eye. It was the first time Chigetsu had laughed this hard in years.

“No, but…” She would calm down slowly, even with the giggles still in her. “On a related note…” She would almost laugh again. Chigetsu couldn’t believe she was going to be revealing such a serious thing after such an un-serious moment, but it was literally related to what was just said. It was important to be honest when it came to situations like this too. “I know I don’t really look or dress like one most of the time, but… I’m actually a boy. I figured I should be honest. So uh, I don't think one of those will be necessary. ” She would look down at herself for a second, glancing at the white suit she had purchased for this event. Even though it had a strong masculine energy, Chigetsu felt pretty good wearing it. It was strange.

Hana was confused by what Chigetsu meant when he started laughing hysterically. It wasn't that funny... She thought to herself feeling Chigetsu was giving her too much credit for a raunchy remark, which of course wound up grabbing the attention of a couple tables around them— the dirty looks going above Hana's head as she was far too focused on her date. But the realization of Chigetsu's true gender was what blew Hana away. Her mouth dropped as the synapses in her brain went dark. Was she memeing her? Was this a setup? She learned back in her chair, confusion drawn all over her face. She focused on her sense of smell. Males often had an odor to them that Hana could pick up with her nose. But oddly enough Chigetsu didn't emit any of those, running her blind to his prank for the longest time. Most likely because of his hygiene habits that she was greatly unaware of.

"You're a guy? But you dress as a girl? Do you trap other men to have them do butt stuff with you?" And it was the moment she said this did their waiter arrive, the man pausing a bit in his tracks before clearing his throat to make a presence before intruding on their conversation. "Good Evening, my name is Rion and I will be your waiter for this night." The waiter set down two wine glasses eat, filling one with bottled Voss water while leaving the other dry for their main drink. Both will be given a menu, though Hana was an avid foodie. She knew what she wanted to order the moment she investigated their menu online. "Yes, for starters we will have having the steamed crab legs, fish cakes, and the shrimp cocktail. And for my entree I would like the sirloin steak with the kimchi butter, medium rare, garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus, and oil and vinegar for the side salad. And don't forget to keep the bread basket coming." Hana was totally confident when setting her order. "And whole milk to drink."

It was a custom for Kaguya to drink milk. It was a high-calcium drink that could be paired with every meal. And every Kaguya knows that the stronger your bones the better fighter you were. That mindset was carried on well into adulthood for most. The waiter would stick around for Chigetsu's order before leaving them in peace. She didn't intend to let the subject be brushed away. Not after hearing such a bombshell such as that. "But do you? How does it feel? I've always wanted real experience with that stuff." She said a bit shamefully. Not that she was uncomfortable with revealing her kinks as much as she was with being a virgin. "This is probably the realest date I've ever had. I went to prom back in High School, which is my only real experience with boys. Well, if you could call that experience. He never showed up..." Despite the nature of the conversation, Hana seems relatively unphased about her past experienced with dating.

Chigetsu couldn’t help but watch Hana for her reaction after that bombshell was revealed. She really hadn’t wanted to reveal it, but in a situation like this she really didn’t feel like she had any choice in the matter. Seeing her mouth drop open and the dull shock on her face wasn’t surprising, and the only thing that Chigetsu could do in response was sort of awkwardly smile. In a sense it was good? It confirmed again that she passed well enough that Hana never questioned it up until now, which was something she really took pride in.

What she said next caused Chigetsu to freeze up, locking completely in place. The fact that the waiter arrived at the same time made it impossibly worse, and the poor boy’s eyes would beam wide like an owl. His entire face would turn to be the color of his hair for a moment, and he would turn his purple hues down to the table as the waiter began to speak. It was absurdly embarrassing. The moment would pass through. Even if Chigetsu’s heart was still beating irregularly from that comment, just freezing up here would be even worse. He would fall to the path of least resistance, and attempt to act in the way that would draw the least amount of attention. He was already scanning down at the menu as Hana began her order. Chi has scanned the menu before, but at the same time they weren’t nearly the level of foodie that Hana was. At least, not unless it came to sugar. It was more or less the only thing that Chigetsu ate now that he lived on his own and was able to buy his own food. The embarrassment had scrambled his head too, and he already was forgetting what he had planned on eating when preparing for this situation. Eventually it would become his turn to order though, and he would have to be prepared.

“U-Uh…” His eyes would scan up to the waiter for a moment, and then back down to the menu. The remaining heat in his face almost made it difficult to think. “Could I get… The pork belly glazed in the apricot reduction and honey? Then with just vinegar and oil for the salad. Just water is fine as well.” If he was eating red meat, the sort that was smothered in essentially sugar and jelly was the sort that was more to his tastes. After jotting down their orders Rion would presumably leave the strange duo in order to go relay it all back to the chef.

Once he was gone Hana would immediately begin asking again on the same topic, but somehow it seemed like the topic of anal sex was what she was the more interested in rather than the cross dressing, which was almost more embarassing to talk or think about.

“No, uh, I’ve never-... Well…” He immediately denied the assertion, but a memory that came back to him just then made him pause and question himself on the answer. Chi had to think now. Did that one time count? He struggled with it for a moment or two before deciding against it. “...No, that one time doesn’t count, so I haven’t ever done anything like that… Sorry to disappoint you.” He would bring up a hand to gently rub at his still pink cheek, almost as if he was trying to push the heat and shame out of his face. He wouldn’t respond to the idea that she had always wanted to try anal sex, not really sure what to say in response.

“Really, though?” He was surprised at what she said, but more than anything this was him trying desperately to change the subject now. “I would have expected someone like you to have plenty of men lining up to date you. I mean… Back at the Mizukage’s Office on that day, there literally were plenty of men lining up to date you. I can’t imagine why anyone would stand you up like that.”

Hana was surprised Chigetsu also had no experience. She figured the whole shy 'girl' persona would've been a real man catcher. He was definitely passable and would have had no trouble experimenting with other men if that's what he was really into. When Chigetsu mentioned a time not counting forced Hana's head to tilt in curiosity. What didn't count? What was this enigmatic experience? But the flow of the conversation switched over to Hana in a heartbeat. Hana could tell Chigetsu was embarrassed beyond belief, and a change of pace was probably good for them. The pinkette pondered why a man would ever stand her up. There clearly wasn't a lack of suitors. Hana received the news that there were over five-hundred thousand applicants, but after her staff sorted through the number of qualified people, she was only left with twelve.

"I know right? I mean, I'm not ugly. But I'm having more trouble than usual. When I organized this dating thing I hired some professional staff to help find a match. They had me answer some questions and talked with me. Like a 'fake date' thing to get a feel for who I was. Once they got that down they opened the application in public and let people apply. I guess those who weren't compatible with me were eliminated from the process. Almost a million people applied, but only twelve had compatible personalities with me. That's crazy to think about. Such a small sample of men are actually compatible with me. I would've been used up by the time I actually had a chance to settle down for real. I guess it was a wise move on my end to try this service out."

She was relieved but also somewhat demotivated after hearing the results of her dating test. To have so little people actually capable of having a long term relationship was scary. It gave her a vague feeling of loneliness. It was like looking into the future and knowing when you were going to die. If professionals were unable to find a large sample of compatible partners she would have almost zero luck on her own. She didn't know a thing about dating or even sustaining a relationship. Was she supposed to act romantic? How does she respond to advances? Not everybody was the same. How is she supposed to respond to them? She wanted to be herself, but she felt deep down that her personality is what drove many suitors away.

Before she could dwell too much on her own thoughts, the infamous break basket arrived with a small pat of butter. A suitable distraction. Her hand instinctively went for a roll and the butter knife, eviscerating the bread and stuffing it with a tablespoon of butter. She'd take a hefty mouthful which was large enough to occupy her mouth with chewing for a good moment.

Wait. Almost a million people? Chigetsu knew the lines were long, but that was crazy. And only twelve people were selected out of the million? How did he get to be one of the people to be selected? Hana had hired a whole special team and everything for it… Did that mean that they both secretly had super compatible personalities for this kind of thing? It was something that Chigetsu never would have expected. Or maybe was it just that the service people she hired for this were all useless? For there to be a million people applying specifically to date her and only twelve people were acceptable out of that… Yes, it must have been that they didn’t know what they were doing. There should have been plenty of people compatable with her. Hundreds of thousands, at least. Chigetsu couldn’t see anything wrong with Hana that would make it so that she would have such a small number of compatible people.

There was also the question of what she meant by ‘used up’, but Chigetsu wouldn’t ask any questions.

Then the bread came, and before Chigetsu could even think of a response Hana would already be neck deep into the bowl. He watched curiously as she shoved maybe a little too much butter inside, and then stuffed her entire mouth full with the rool. This wasn’t new, and Chigetsu assumed this is what he would have seen a bunch of at that water park assuming Hana hadn’t completely dumped the majority of her food all over Daisuke. Poor guy.

Chi, in the meanwhile, would take a sip of the Voss water. It was…. It tasted fresh. Really Chigetsu didn’t notice any difference in taste from normal water. It was all probably the same as wine experts, who would just make stuff up when they had to describe a wine’s flavor profile or whatever.

“Those staff you hired must have just been crazy. There should have been plenty more than twelve who would be compatible with you. I mean, you’re… You’re pretty amazing.” He was speaking honestly, but it would take him a moment to collect his thoughts. It was hard to express these sorts of things. “... Back on that mission we did together… You probably don’t even remember it I bet, but I’ve wanted to thank you ever since then. I thought about what you told me for a while, and you really inspired me.”

“I signed up for the Chunin Exams. I’ve already passed the written portion and… I’m going to win.” It was hard to say, but he somehow got it out. It was the culmination of everything that had happened so far that let him come to this point, including everything that had happened in that exams room. It was probably rude, taking what she was saying about her insecurities and using it to say what he wanted to say about himself, but this was one of the things that Chigetsu had needed to talk to Hana about in the first place.

"So... Thank you for helping me, I guess is what I wanted to say."

The quality of the bread was what she expected. They were pretty good and she could enjoy a few of them before getting bored, which was a lot considering the bread was really just filler. The butter was made and salted locally being far superior than the packaged stuff she was so familiar with. She chewed in silence keeping eye contact with Chigetsu when he started speaking, cheeks full of partially chewed bread and butter. Her face...didn't change when Chi attempted to flatter her. What could she even say? Being put on a pedestal wasn't her thing and being called amazing was a first by anybody other than her parents. So how would she react? Hana took another large bite of bread and continued chewing.

Chigetsu reminded her of the mission which initially left her confused for a moment. They went on a few missions in the past, none of them having any sort of significance to her unlike Chi. Even when Chigetsu mentioned the Chuunin Exams she was still lost for a few moments after before the synapses in her brain finally picked up on the distant event. She recalled encouraging Chi to sign up for the Chuunin Exams back then, feeling he was more than capable of surviving the trials. The exams weren't so bad as much as Hana remembered. Though, to be real, these exams were several years ago and Kirigakure was much smaller. Back then there was only a tournament versus the three-part exam now. In fact, when Chi mentioned passing the 'written portion' she got a cold sweat. You have to write now to be a Chuunin?

She finished the last of her bread roll when the pinkette finished talking, Hana finishing her glass of water in a single dram. Just as she finished, the appetizers came out. Steamed crab legs with lemon and butter, breaded cod fish cakes, and a plate of shrimp with a small bowl of cocktail sauce in the center. Despite having eaten a piece of bread her stomach rumbled as if it was empty again. But she wouldn't be autistic and ignore Chi to stuff her face. "Helping you? I had nothing to do with your success. You always had it in you. It seems now you're starting to realize you're better off than you think. You see..." Hana reached for a jumbo shrimp, dredging it in cocktail sauce before popping the whole thing in her mouth, including the tail. Normally shrimp tails were a bit tougher to chew when boiled like in shrimp cocktail, easier to be eaten when fried or cooked with dry heat. But her Kaguya teeth worked wonderfully in breaking down tough food items. And there was no doubt the tails were an excellent source of calcium.

She'd swallow after a few seconds of chewing to continue what she had to say with a clear mouth. "My dad always told me if you aren't uncomfortable, you aren't bettering yourself. People are comfortable with habit. When you develop a habit, you aren't changing. Eventually you will get to a mindset where you face these uncomfortable changes on your own and pursue them willingly. You just have to really want it in order to succeed. To me it sounds like you want to take on this promotion. If that's the case, you already have your mind set. And reaching the finals would be no problem for you." While she spoke she methodologically portions a bit of all the appetizers on a small plate. A single fishcake, a few crab legs, and a host of shrimp. She stuffed a bread roll with even more butter than before to compliment her 'appetizer' plate.

But duty called. It seemed the moment Hana started to put real food into her body it decided to frantically make room as her gut rumbled. The week's buildup with packaged food and burgers were hastily pushed out of her intestinal tract. The growling in her gut was audible and longer than she would have desired. And this sensation raised a red flag causing her body to tense up. "Uhh, I gotta go to the bathroom. Be back in a couple minutes."


...but that was a lie.


Hana would be imprisoned in the toilet for roughly fifteen minutes. Every minute past five tormented her with guilt, hoping Chigetsu didn't get the wrong idea of her ghosting him on their date. There wasn't really a time limit for potty time, but more than five started to become a little suspicion. She tried to comfort herself with the idea that Chigetsu would be entertained by her dad's words and the appetizers before him. The other female patrons in the restroom were appalled by Hana's bathroom time, the frequency she made very unladylike and inappropriate for such a high class establishment. But when she finished, she was confident and relieved.

Washing her hands at the bathroom sink she caught something in the corner of her eye. It was a container of cleaning wipes. Rinsing her hands off she dried them off with a paper towel, eyes reading the label carefully. Kills 99.9% of bacteria and viruses...great for wood, steel, and granite... In a trance with the wipes she tossed the crumbled paper towel to the side failing to make the trash bin as it bounced off the rim. She picked up the container and read it carefully. It seemed safe enough. Hana went back into a restroom stall and would touch up some important areas before leaving, now confident and feeling refreshened.

Wowee, at least I didn't miss the main course." She said, relieved their main order hadn't come out yet. She'd scoot back into her chair to the table and hack off a generous bite of fish cake with her fork, using her butter knife to dab an equally generous amount of sauce. "So what about your parents? I don't know much about you personally. I feel we should get the cringe normie stuff out of the way. You know, so we aren't complete strangers."

The pause and visible lack of reaction was maybe something he should have expected. Hana stuffed her face with the bread rolls and butter, seemingly starving. He knew a bit of her eating habits in the past, so this wasn’t really that surprising, but the fact that she was doing it with something as plain as butter and bread was interesting. The fact that she kept eye contact with him the entire time that he spoke, and in the moments after he finished while she was still eating her bread roll, was a little bit intimidating. He watched her eat in those few moments before he swallowed.Just as she did another round of food came out, creating what seemed like a continuously regenerating supply. Perhaps a place like this was chosen for its fast service, or maybe they were on high alert because Hana had come here tonight. Either or, it was pretty amazing to see.

Hana’s response was inspiring. In a sense it was exactly what Chigetsu had wanted to talk to her about, however awkward it may be. It was selfish of him, incredibly so. That he was using this sort of time as something to boost himself, when it was supposed to be a date between them. It was a bit of self-indulgence, especially hearing Hana say what she did. At the same time, he knew what he was doing. This would be the last of that, for now at least. His desperate desire for approval didn’t belong in a setting like this, even if it was what he had wanted to speak to her about. There was another issue, being the royal family, but that could wait as well.

Then he watched her eat a shrimp with the tail still on. He couldn’t help but watch it. Was… Was this how you were supposed to eat shrimp? Chigetsu would look down at the appetisers. Mimicking her, he would reach out for a single shrimp and put it into his mouth tail on. It was… crunchy. He lacked the same bone structure and density that she did, and so the result was a bit unpleasant, but he would stay committed to chewing. The moment that she would commit to swallowing and started talking about he would too, forcefully swallowing the only partially chewed shell down his throat. Parts of the inside of his throat would liquify from it being forced down, but it would be fine at the end of the day. He just didn’t think he would eat shrimp like this again, with the shell still on. It wasn’t ideal.

He took what she said to heart, even if there were still bits of shrimp shell stuck in his throat. He could still taste it, and likely would for a while. It was a part of internal realization that would take some time to be digested, and so for now he would only nod to her words with a bit of a determined look on his face. “Yes, that makes sense-” Chigetsu would pause, interrupted by the rumbling earthquake that erupted up from Hana’s stomach. He would just stare blankly as she got up, rushing off to the toilet, more than a little concerned for her.

…

Every so often Chigetsu would glance down to his watch, or across the restaurant to the clock on the wall. He was patient, at first thinking nothing of it, but after ten minutes had passed he was beginning to worry. The seconds would begin to drag on after that. Even if he didn’t want to, Chigetsu couldn’t help but begin to assume the worst. He didn’t think that his performance so far had been the worst… It was technically his first date too though, so maybe he just didn’t understand exactly where he went wrong? There was a possibility he had made it too awkward with that discussion of the Chunin Exams and the mission, or that it was just that Hana wasn’t really interested in men that… looked like Chigetsu did. His mind would wander with the possibilities.

He had glazed over by the time she came back, and her presence and voice would cause him to snap back to reality with a moment of surprise. The fact that she had actually come back after taking so much time in the restroom wasn’t something he had expected at this point. It painted a much more troubling picture, where that rumbling of her stomach earlier was just legitimately because of nature calling. It was concerning. With how he had seen her eat at the Water Park, Chigetsu could only imagine what her digestive system must be like. Was it... did she have a toilet problem? How did she keep her physique anyway, now that he thought of it? There were many mysterious and unanswered questions, none of which Chigetsu would dare to ask.

Cringe normie stuff…? The words would stick in his mind for a second, but he would nod his head at the idea. “My parents… Yeah. That’s a good idea. Uhm. My dad is Engetsu Hozuki and my mom is Akeruseirei Kaguya… now Hozuki. They’re both shinobi in the village too, although… It’s a side job. There’s the family shipping business they run. Hozuki and merchants and sailing, and all that. The normal stuff. I guess there’s a chance you might have seen their names before in paperwork...” It was an odd thought, which hopefully wasn’t the case. Especially considering the familial issue with his mother’s birth clan. It would make things a bit odd. “We live in the south side of the Hozuki District, where all those private tutorship buildings are and the university stuff. Well, I have my own apartment, but it’s in the same area. Only a short walk away.”

It was a brief description, hopefully being adequate without getting too far deep into details. “What about you? What are your parents like, and what was it like growing up as a Kaguya?”

Neither of the names Chigetsu mentioned sounded familiar. Hana deals with a lot of names throughout her day, many she tends to forget. She was bad with names in general often forgetting those belonging to important figures she should know. But she wasn't as much interested in their first names as she was their surnames. Her eyes widened in shock. "Wait...you have Kaguya in you?" She said in disbelief. Part of her was excited Chigetsu had such unique genealogy. The Kaguya were descendants of an alien race not from earth. Hana knew that much about her clan's history. It's why their physiology didn't respond to certain intakes like that of an ordinary human, though they are considered more human now than their ancestors. The Kaguya generally had a physically apex build, though. Something Chigetsu lacked. Chigetsu himself stood at a humble 5'4 while Hana practically towered over him at 5'11. The pinkette, if born and raised as Kaguya, would be tormented for his height. Let alone his own personal dress choice. Hana figured if Chigetsu was raised Kaguya he would have likely changed, or 'outted' himself from the clan years ago.

The question was flipped back to Hana, as expected. "My mom is Himari and my dad is Kousuke. They're both Kaguya, as you would expect. The Kaguya like to keep their gene pool clean and avoid 'crossbreeding' with other clans or clanless people. The clan is pretty conservative overall. It was until recently, and by recent I mean a few years, did we open the clan district to visitors. The Kaguya district is a great place. I'm surprised you haven't seen it yet, considering how close the Hozuki are with the Kaguya. It's so clean and everybody is kind..." Though, of course her experience with her clan members were radically different than outsiders. "It's like a perfect society. We value health and virtue. As the saying goes, it takes a town to raise a child. The Kaguya have little tolerance for degenerate behavior. It's rare that we get a 'bad' Kaguya. My dad taught me how to fight, how to be mentally strong, and the important disciplines to be independent. My mom taught me a lot of the domestic stuff to be a good wife. Though, I feel I took after my dad more than my mom." She said with a small giggle at the end.

The way she dressed and her mannerisms spoke for herself. Her somewhat masculine traits shined through almost every day the moment she moved out of her parent's house. And it was especially good that her change happened when it did. If she was caught not bathing as often as society expected and her poor diet, she would have been shamed for her habits by the older generations. Not that Hana would ever cave into that type of peer pressure. "I love my parents both. It took them a while to make me move out..in fact it is approaching my two-year anniversary of moving out next week." Their dinner would roll out on a cart the moment she finished, their plates being served before them. Hana had her steak dinner and Chigetsu had his sweet meat dish. The waiter also filled Hana's glass with her whole milk and left the bottle for future refills.

"But now that we got that out of the way...I'm still curious. You aren't exactly gay, seeing as you're sitting here with me. But you look very passable. What's with the appearance thing?" She asked, her tone and voice showing she was genuinely curious and not aggressive or shaming. Hana, having come from computer culture, was a bit more open-minded than a lot of other Kaguya making her a lot more tolerable towards these kinds of things.

He would nod his head to confirm her shock. “I do. I know I don’t really look the part though.” This was something he had in part expected to be something of a surprise to her, especially since she was a Kaguya herself. It wasn’t often that half-breeds like him came into existence with how the Kaguya were, although Chigetsu didn’t really think of himself as a ‘half-breed’. It was clear just by looking at him that he didn’t really take after his mother’s side of the family. He lacked the height and muscle or bone density that the Kaguya were known for, standing a head and shoulders below even the shortest woman in the Kaguya clan. The fact that he was born with the characteristically purple Hozuki eyes and the Hozuki kekkei genkai were just additional factors that pulled himself away from thinking of himself in those terms. He was so divested from that half of his heritage that he knew little personally about the Kaguya Clan or their district other than what filtered down to him through cultural osmosis. Really, other than his mom, the first he had come into contact with were Hana and Daisuke.

It was hard to not smile as she giggled. It was an unexpectedly cute side of her. It made it clear that she had a strong connection to her family and clan, which explained a lot of that behavior he had seen before with Daisuke. It almost made him jealous with some of the things she said. Their dinner would come out shortly after Hana had finished explaining her familial situation, each of their plates being placed before them by the same waitress who had taken their orders, although the next subject that was brought up would take Chigetsu’s attention immediately away from it.      

“Well…” He would smile a bit awkwardly as he thought about how he could possibly explain something like this. Even for himself it was difficult to put into words, especially now. “It’s hard to explain.”

“Even before I started doing any of this, before I started dressing like I do now and before I grew my hair out and dyed it, I still sort of… With my height and how my build is, people would still mistake me for a girl. It felt like it happened all the time. I guess you can tell that despite my mother being a Kaguya I didn’t really take after her at all.” It made him giggle a bit just thinking about the sheer clash in appearance and personality between the two of them.

“It started as something arbitrary. When I was younger the tutoring sessions would either be one on one or in small groups, and in those groups people would always tease me about it. Other kids would point out advertisements of girls in dresses from clothing stores and tell me that I would look better in the dress than the model did. That sort of stuff.”

Despite the awkwardness in the subject matter, suddenly a determined expression would cross over Chigetsu’s face. “I don’t remember exactly when, but I thought to myself one day… They were right. I went into a store and tried out a dress and I did look prettier than the models did.” It was a sudden bout of serious self-confidence that seemingly came out of nowhere, and clashed with how Chigetsu usually behaved. Even with his nervous and skittish personality Chigetsu rarely had any sort of concerns over whether or not he passed. He was confident that he did, and this was reinforced by others pretty often. The occasional individuals who could see through was usually enough to ruin his day and make that confidence completely deflate, but that wasn’t something that happened all too often if he was careful about it. That fear of being ‘exposed’ was constant though, but he was riding high right now and was able to push it down. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was already known in the Hozuki Clan and that rumors of him being an oddity like this occasionally spread through the younger clan members, Chigetsu was more or less confident that nobody would be able to tell.

“I started doing it more often after that, and then slowly…” This probably was ‘degenerate behavior’ in the eyes of the Kaguya Clan. The thought of it made him nervous for a second, but the way that Hana had asked made him feel safer talking about it. “... it turned into this. I just do this most of the time now. I don’t mind if people mistake me as a girl, or call me one. It’s usually better that way now…” He actually preferred it like that, when people referred to him as a girl, but it was hard to say that.

“That’s uh… most people think it’s weird or ‘degenerate’, I guess. I don’t really like to think of it like ‘trapping’ people, but that’s what some people seem to call it.” He shrugged at the idea.

Hana listened to Chi's origin story, so to speak, completely intrigued. He wasn't really gay as far as she could tell. If that was the case she was sure he would've had a few visitors in his bed by now. Gays were generally promiscuous and unless Chigetsu way lying to her, he was a virgin. But the reason for the cross-dressing was deeper than a fetish or sexuality. From what Hana could tell it was merely a response of looking a certain way. Hana's brain clicked on being fairly understanding where Chigetsu was coming from. "That makes sense." She said between bites of her dinner before grabbing a napkin and patting her mouth down preparing to speak. "It's pretty smart, actually. I think i would do the same in your shoes. I would rather look how others see me. I mean if I were a guy and I looked feminine with my peepee being super small I wouldn't bother trying to be a man. That person would end up looking like a soyboy beta. I would try to be pursue what I naturally look like. People may judge you and say you're trying to be something you're not, but that's not true."

Hana took a swig of her milk to help moisten her throat and mouth, licking the small milk mustache that formed just above her lip. "I remember when I was in school there were always people trying to be things they're not. Especially the boys. You would have these skinny boys trying to become shredded with muscles, but their genes simply didn't allow it. No matter how many protein shakes they drank and how much they worked out they could never become bulky. You just can't beat nature. The time they spent trying to bulk they could've spent on working towards something their body would allow, like running or acrobatics. You look like a girl. I never noticed you were a guy until you mentioned it to me. Trying to be a masculine would be going against your nature. I think you made the right choice doing what you did. As the saying goes, 'Sound mind, sound body.' The more confident you are in your own skin the better mindset you'll have." She let Chigetsu dwell on her words as she finished up her dinner. The steak was cooked to her preference and everything was very nutritious compared to her regular diet. She felt better herself after eating such a healthy meal.

She'd break into her wallet and an anonymous amount of cash. She figured what she had would be plenty to cover the bill and 'a tip', whatever that was. There was no point in being frugal with her money given how loaded she was. She figured the staff at the restaurant could use the ryo more than she could in the end. Zipping up her wallet she grabbed the chocolate cheeseburger together in her hands. "So, do you wanna come back to my place?" She offered, ready to go anywhere but loitering the restaurant. They had the night to themselves.

She showed a surprising amount of interest in what he was saying. At least it was surprising to him. He had never shared this with anyone else, and the idea that it was anything other than maybe embarrassing had never occurred to him. As he finished his explanation Chi would begin down at his dinner as well, taking little forkfuls of the meat. It was tender and fatty enough that he could just pull it apart with the fork alone, no knife needed. The meat was already glazed with honey and so it was perfectly sweet, but Chigetsu would dip it in the apricot sauce that was set off to the side anyway. It was more like a thick jam than a sauce really. Once he had a bite sized piece perfectly sauced up it would be placed into his mouth.

He had to suppress the instinct to choke the moment she got to the words ‘peepee being super small’. The food would get stuck in his throat, and Chigetsu would be left with an extreme awkward smile as he tried hard not to choke. It would be forced down, with most of the reaction being hidden, but it still caught him by surprise. Hana certainly had a way with words. Even still she seemed to be accepting of how he was, and supportive, so maybe the exact language didn’t exactly matter. By the time she got to ‘soyboy beta’ he was beginning to expect it. This would be something he would have to grow used to.

He glanced down for a moment at his lower half. Did he have a ‘small peepee’? It was never really something he concerned himself with, and he had never measured it or anything or seen anyone elses to compare. Now wasn’t the time for those sorts of thoughts though.

“I’m glad you think the same way. That’s a relief. I’ve always tried to just do what came naturally to me like you’ve said…I can’t imagine trying to grow muscles and look all bulky like some other guys do. If it wasn’t in a date situation like this I don’t think I’d have ever said anything. I usually try not to let my secret out, but I felt like not doing it here would have been a little immoral.” The mental image was amusing, if a bit disturbing. He had signs of what that would look like from his use of the Great Water Arm. Having that applied to the entirety of his body… Eugh.

He finished his dinner shortly after Hana did. Forking a bit of the last of the apricot reduction into his mouth and then washing it down with the last of his water. It seemed that they were finished here. As far as his expectations went this seemed pretty successful. Of course, he didn’t really know what to expect, but this felt good.

"So, do you wanna come back to my place?"

He froze for a moment. Was… Was this how dates were supposed to end? He hadn’t thought at all about this part, what would happen after they finished eating. There was no context for it in his mind.

“Okay! Your place. That sounds nice.” He would nod his head, although a little nervous from this unexpected twist. Given how she spoke earlier, with all those mentions of anal and peepee talk, he shouldn't have been surprised.

Hana smiled at Chigetsu agreed to come over to her place. The Mizukage was painfully unaware of the social expectations when inviting someone to your home. Generally, first impressions were important. Cleaning the house until it looked picture perfect and ensuring it smelled good were at least some common measures to take when inviting guests over. Hana would proudly lock her arm with Chigetsu's as they walked on the sidewalk down the street. She had a confident strut to her step as if she was a dog that found a new chew toy. Her arm lock was almost forceful, embracing Chi's tightly to the point where occasionally she would 'break' his arm causing small streams of water to trickle down. They would leave the downtown area and head straight to the Kaguya clan district where they'd find themselves in the residential area, Hana's old home. It was a fairly shoddy apartment complex. It was her first home she had when moving out of her parent's. The apartment was very cost efficient and had everything a single homeowner could want.

She ascended the stairs from the inside and arrived at the third floor. Now elevators were clearly an option, but Chigetsu would quickly learn after enough time with Hana that the Kaguya valued health and healthy choices. Down the hall she'd unlock the door to her apartment. It was just the way she left it.

It was a studio apartment, her bed and nightstand on the far side of the room. Against the wall across from the bed she had an small entertainment center with a television and radio. Against the wall between the tv and the bed, facing the doorway, was a small oak dresser. A table and set of two chairs were next to a small bar which divided the rest of the room from the kitchen. The kitchen had basic small appliances from a toaster, rice maker, kettle, and microwave. The range was cheap, being electric coils over gas burner. Built into the bar was a sink, which served as the dishwasher. To the right side was a small bathroom having a toilet, sink, mirror, and bathtub/shower.

The apartment was littered with clothes on the floor, the bed horrendously unkempt with the sheets rolled off from the mattress. A paper plate with dried bits of rice remained on the table, and the sink was fill of dirty dishes. Despite this site the smell was...fine. It smelled like Hana normally did. Almost nostalgic with a very subtle mustiness. Despite this sight, the bathroom was fairly clean and the shower/tub relatively untouched. Hana nudged Chigetsu inside her suite before entering herself and shutting the door, turning the lock. Immediately Hana switched to comfort mode, kicking off her fancy shoes and started to unzip her dress from the back. "Go ahead and get comfy. I'll be ready in a sec." Hana stated casually before entering the bathroom.

Hana made short work of her outfit shedding it off in an instant to free her from its feminine grasp. She'd toss it on the floor where it belong and picked up an oversize white T-shirt in exchange, which was also on the floor. It was a couple sizes larger than Hana which extended midway down her thighs. Aside from the T-shirt she only wore a pair of black panties. These were Hana's humble pajamas. The T-Shirt she wore had a few stains around the collar and chest, most likely from chocolate milk. It hadn't been washed in over a week, Hana believing that pajamas had lower standards for cleanliness over daily clothes.

In two minutes she was ready, unlocking the bathroom and returning back to the main room with her date clothes still on the bathroom floor. She'd grab the remote from the bar and turned on the television. It was set on a blank input. "Do you like video games? I have every Sonic game." Hana stated innocently. From the old retro games to some of the more modern games she had them, and their consoles. It was her favorite series. Something about the upbeat music, colorful themes, and the game play was alluring to her.

The physical contact caught him by surprise, but it wasn’t unwelcome. Having been so started for affection for the majority of his life this sort of thing was actually something he found himself enjoying. The strength of her grip, which would have been enough to just snap his little noodle arm in half like it was a twig, was an interesting part of the experience. The little trickles of water that streamed down from his arm from what would have been his bones breaking if he wasn’t a Hozuki would create little wet marks over the sleeve of his suit. It was surely something she would be able to notice, but given that it didn’t actually cause him any discomfort there was no reason for her to stop or be concerned. All together it was pleasant. Something about it, especially just the forceful way she pulled at it and the way she walked, had the effect of filling him with warmth.

This was his first time being in the Kaguya district, and so he couldn’t help but look around as he was led into it. Without knowing the layout it was hard to really get a feel of where they were going or where things were located, but he did his best to try and remember the general path that they took to get to her apartment. The apartment itself was smaller than what he would have expected from someone who was the Mizukage, but made more sense when taking Hana’s personality and what she’s said in the past into account. It was hard to compare to the luxury that the Hozuki District was, but everything had a very traditional and homey feel to it that he appreciated.

He would take a moment to look around before eventually being nudged inside by Hana, having apparently hesitated for too long. It was different than what he was used to. Smaller. Although he could appreciate the piles of clothing on the floor, as he had the same piles in his own apartment.

He would be greeted by her beginning to unzip her dress as he turned around, following her locking the door behind them. For a moment he would freeze, only to not follow her instructions as she went off to the bathroom. Get comfy…? He would slowly take off his suit jacket, and then the vest that was under it. Chigetsu would be left just in his dress shirt and tie. Without really a place to hang them he would just sort of fold them over his left arm, holding them for now.

Without knowing where else to sit Chigetsu would take a look at her bed. While she was still in the bathroom he would slowly adjust it, pulling the sheets back onto the mattress and patting it down until it was neat enough for him to sit on. He wouldn’t go full to the point of making her bed, but enough so that he wouldn’t feel weird about using it as a seat. His suit jacket and vest would be placed to his side in the meanwhile.

Seeing her come out of the bathroom conspicuously without wearing any pants would be something Chigetsu to not notice, but it was more the overall shift in her appearance rather than the lack of pants itself. With all the formality they had on this date and the officiality between rank of Mizukage and Genin, there was something revealing about seeing her in pajamas like this. The lack of pants, together with the stains, shook away a bit of the way he pictured her in his mind, and he almost visibly relaxed following it instead of maintaining that straight spine nervousness that he had for the entire date until now.

“I never got to play any as a kid. My parents always pushed hard with the training and education stuff. There was never any time for anything else. I know about Sonic though… He’s the blue one, right?” He was just playing dumb. Chigetsu knew all about Sonic from years of reading fanfiction on the internet, but he would rather die than admit to this. Back in the darkest recesses of his mind he recalled for a moment his nearly forgotten deviantart account. Some things were best left forgotten, never to be spoken of again. “I’ve always wanted to try playing one. Can you teach me how to play?”

When Chigetsu mentioned he never played any video games Hana gave a squint and a subtle nod. "You're in for a treat..." She said under her breath in full confidence. Despite having a hearty dinner she was ready to snack after their walk home. It was essential. Whenever she played games she needed something to nibble on. Perhaps it was an unhealthy habit of hers, but oddly enough it had almost zero impact on her body. She'd grab a bag of cheddar potato chips and a package of Oreo cookies before making her way over to the bed, setting them next to Chigetsu. Going before the entertainment center she'd drop to her knees letting her butt plant firmly on the hardwood floor. She'd open a cabinet door and retrieve an old console. Despite Hana's regular life habits, her game collection was top notch. The controllers were folded neatly, almost uniform with how the cordage was wrapped. The consoles were lined up parallel with each other and the games neatly organized on their own shelf.

Without any hesitation she plugged in the appropriate cables to their slots. She didn't quite understand the technology or what it meant, simply where the things went. Upon turning on the power switch the game booted up.

...

S E - G A

The intro started up, Hana quickly getting into position. She scurried to a spot on the bed right next to Chigetsu, grabbing the comforter and throwing it around them both wrapping it in a fashion to where only their heads peaked out. She'd hand on controller to Chigetsu while she had the second player controller. The game was Sonic 3. "So basically, the story is there's this evil man named Doctor Robotnik. He wants to take over the world and run nature, so you have to stop him. You go through the levels and collect rings for more points, while destroying his evil robots. Now, you can beat the game by just doing that, but if you want the real ending you have to do the bonus stages and collect all seven emeralds. These emeralds are magical, and you need them to get the real ending." As the game finished booting up she sped through the menu and started.

With the basics explained she figured Chigetsu was smart enough to actually know how a game was played despite little experience. Even a child could figure it out. Go right, kill the enemy, collect points. They were all very basic mechanics that the game design forced you to do. These kinds of games were forgiving, encouraging the player to explore and ease them into it. And it was during this moment Hana gently rested the side of her head against Chigetsu's shoulder. She was vulnurable. To have someone with her, in her own place, to spend time with. It was nothing she ever experienced before, and now she was aware of what she was missing out on. But despite her being a 'late bloomer,' she wouldn't look back.

The reflection of the logo lighting up on the television screen could be clearly seen in Chigetsu’s eyes, blue letters mirrored against the purple surface. There was something almost warm about the artificial glow, even though it gave off no heat. Following the logo the pixelated graphics would spring into action, with the eponymous main character zipping into the center of the screen. He would be left wiggling his finger out, intermixed with winking while surrounded by the game’s logo. It was an entirely new experience to him, despite what he had just been thinking. There was something immediately charming in the presentation. Together with the casual pajamas that Hana had put on the scenario changed, melting backwards into time to bring Chigetsu for a moment back to his childhood.

Before he knew it Hana had already wrapped the two of them together in the comforter. A controlled would be placed into his hand underneath the blanket. It was one thing to hear about something in passing or read about it online, and another to experience it like this. Her description was something he understood, and was familiar with, but the experience of playing together alone in a dark room, wrapped in blankets was something different. With the basics explained he managed to pick up the rules pretty easily. Playing as Tails he mainly just followed her lead, zipping around occasionally falling off the screen. He wasn’t good, lacking the muscle memory that Hana surely had, but he was competent enough to not drag her down. It was easy with how simple and forgiving the game was. The mechanics were intuitive, and everything came naturally after a bit of time in the game. The rules were all simple enough for him to learn on the fly.

He would pause, hesitating for a moment when she rested her head on his shoulder, before slinking back into the game. It was warm. The entire situation was completely different than it had been earlier, back when they were at the restaurant. The formality of the situation evaporated. All of the time he had spent preparing, and all the anxiety that came with it was wiped from his mind. Despite being an experience completely new to him it felt natural, and normal. Each of the little things added together to something special, even if it did feel normal at the same time. Time quickly began to slow down, turning into a haze that blurred together.

With every passing moment together Hana felt like she knew Chigetsu more and more despite spending time in mostly silence. The night spent with Chigetsu changed her perspective on him completely, from the social shut-in she once knew to a misunderstood young man. He accepted his flaws, which was more than what most people could admit to. She respected him for it. Hana didn't see him as a coward for 'caving into social pressures.' He willingly made the choice to be who he was. Little over halfway through the game she was bored. There was something greater in front of her that would top any Sonic game. She didn't want to waste any more time staring at a screen. Hana dropped the controller from her hand letting it fall onto the floor. Grabbing Chigetsu by his arm she'd reel him back with herself following on top of him. She'd let her silver hair fall over them before leaning in for a kiss. It was her first. As expected it was very inexperienced being nothing more than a peck of the lips.

"So...do you remember what I said I wanted earlier?"

And yes.

She was talking about the butt stuff.

[FTB]

[Exit]

For a while the only sounds that had been made in this small little space came from the screen. The drop of the controller from her hands would break the silence that had settled out over the two of them, resulting in Chigetsu’s focus being torn away immediately from the screen. With how little space there was between them it would be before he could really react that Hana would have already reeled him back onto the bed. The controller would slip out of his hands, falling to the floor just as Hana’s had. It had caught him off guard, and before he really knew what was happening Hana would be on top of him. Her hair would spill out from behind her down around the both of them, creating a curtain almost around the both of them.

In that moment his heart would stop, and his eyes would be locked up into hers. Even though he knew what was happening right now he found his mind unable to process the situation around him. Time felt as though it passed impossibly slowly. She leaned down, and the two would peck their lips together in both of their first kisses.

The question that came immediately afterwards stopped his heart again. He did remember what she had said she wanted earlier. Chigetsu would have been lying if he pretended he didn’t. It had been on his mind from the moment she invited him back to her place, although playing games together wrapped snug under the comforter had been very nice too. For a moment when she booted up Sonic he had assumed that he was mistaken, and that it was just his own dirty mind that made those assumptions wrongly, but now it seemed that Hana would prove his initial thoughts on the matter correct.

“Yes, I… I do.” All those questions about butt stuff, and wanting to experience the real thing. It seemed like they would both have a chance to experience something new tonight.

[FTB]

[Exit]