Ino watched the spread of pastries like a woman without food for an entire week. Her eyes were intense, slightly dilated, borderline scary, but before I let her loose on the new ones, there was another I wanted her to try.
"Today isn't a day for cupcakes," I said, earning me a frown, "except for one."
Ino's head snapped toward me like a predator finding prey. Scary. She leaned closer, her face almost touching mine. "Yes?"
From the folders of my yukata, I pulled the seal. Ino's eyes followed my every move. I scratched my cheek, unsure how to say what I wanted to say. Well, I could just say it, right? Ino wasn't going to judge me because I wasn't eloquent enough. At least, I hoped so.
"You already know about the special series," I started. Ino responded with a grave nod. I placed the seal on the table, a finger at the center. In a puff of smoke, out popped a cupcake. The newest one in the series.
Yellow frosting made to look like a mane of blond hair, a few blue sprinkles, the color similar to Ino's blue orbs. The cupcake itself was blueberry, which, instead of turning it blue, left a pretty shade of purple not unlike her normal ninja outfit.
"Purple and Confidence," I said, feeling bashful.
Ino looked at the cupcake, then at me, then the cupcake again. Her lip trembled.
"Hinata-chan," she said, voice hoarse.
"I-" I started, but never got to finish it.
Ino tackled me, then kissed me silly.
I didn't mind it one bit.
I held my breath and watched Ino bite down on the fondant au chocolat. I'd tried to give her an explanation on each, but Ino cut me off. She wanted to discover things for herself. That also led her to bite into the fondant like it was a cupcake, ignoring the small spoon I had placed by it.
"Let me try it," she had said, grinning.
And so I did. My lips still felt tingly from all the kissing. Gosh, I wanted more. Why was I so needy?
She started with the fondant. Maybe because it didn't look so different from a cupcake at a glance? Still, I worried; butterflies rebelling in my belly. What if she didn't like it? What if it tasted bad? I had tasted one of each myself, and I did think they were awesome, but-
Ino let out a high-pitched squeal, eyes closed, hands trembling. There was a bit of gooey chocolate on Ino's lips and hands. She was not expecting the molten interior.
"This is soooo gooood," she moaned, then bit into it again.
Well, I think that one passed the test.
From there, she tried the flan, the cinnabons, and the egg tarts. Each extracted from her an appropriate response, but I stopped her when she tried to pick up the crème burleé.
"This one needs a bit of work on my side, so you can taste it like it is meant," I said.
Ino nodded, eyes expectant.
I leaned over the table, with a few hand seals, created a puff of fire, and let it lick the top. I had tested this before, of course, so I knew the flame intensity and how much time I needed to keep it going. When I was done, I took the container and the spoon that Ino hadn't used yet, then presented both.
Ino took them, looking at me for instructions.
"Crack the crust with the spoon, scoop it up, and eat."
My pretty girlfriend gave me a nod. Like she was facing a life-or-death battle, she clinked the spoon against the crust, and when it was broken, scooped the gooey insides, and took it into her mouth.
Ino let out a long, blissful moan.
My ears burned in sympathetic embarrassment.
"This is sooo good!" she said, scooping more and shoveling it into her mouth.
Closer to sunset, while Ino was still nibbling and trying my new pastries, I unsealed my koto and placed it near the table. I had prepared the position in a way that by watching me, Ino could also see the sunset. Cheesy, yes, but hey, I was new at this whole dating thing. Even in the before, I had only a few kisses here and there with Kimberly, not a proper date between us.
And I wanted this to be a proper date. I had thought long and hard about which songs to play and decided on three I liked best.
I plucked a few strings, made sure the bridges weren't out of tune, and with a few chakra threads, hit the koto side at specific points, mimicking a percussion instrument, to give it that iconic rhythm. The plucked strings joined soon after with the melody.
My eyes were on Ino when I started singing the modified lyrics.
It was not the way I planned, not my intention
I got so brave, in sleepy land, lost my discretion
It's not what I'm used to, but wanted try you on
I'm curious for you, caught my attention
I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my ninja friends don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
I guess I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it
I had played this song to my clones many times, trying to get it right. The original version by Katy Perry was an all-out banger, but replicating the melody on the koto wasn't easy. Still, when listening through clones, I think I did a good job.
In this first verse, I was thinking about when I kissed Ino back in the Forest of Death. It wasn't how I imagined things would go, but I didn't regret it one bit.
Ino smiling from ear to ear, and swaying to the beat, told me it wasn't as bad, too.
Yes, she doesn't even know my name, it doesn't matter
This is not an experimental game, more than human nature
It's not what good girls do, not how they should behave
My head gets so confused, hard to obey
The second verse, I poured things I hadn't told Ino about, the memories in my previous life, about being someone else. It felt strange thinking she didn't know my name. It really didn't matter. I was Camilla, I was Hinata. I loved Ino regardless of which name she called me by. The second part of the verse was directed at Ino's trouble with her mom. A nudge to her own hardships.
I didn't change any of the last part of the song, I left the way it was. It was a pretty good representation of how I felt about kissing girls. Katy really knew her business.
"That was awesome, Hinata-chan!" Ino gasped. She had even stopped eating her pastries.
I smiled back, glad she had liked it. To disguise my embarrassment, I started the next song right away.
This one had no starting melody to introduce things. My voice started, soon followed by the koto and my threads imitating percussion. I loved this song, even if I never knew who the singer and composer were. It was one of those you hear and like, but never really know who from.
I still hear your voice, when you sleep next to me.
I still feel your touch in my dream.
(in my dream)
Forgive me my weakness, but I don't know why,
Without you, it's hard to survive.
'Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling.
And every time we kiss, I swear I could fly.
Can't you feel my heart beat fast?
I want this to last.
Need you by my side.