Night had fully fallen. Streetlights all over the roads flicked on one after another, lighting up the whole of Konoha.
The newly built movie theater stood out sharply among Konoha's traditional houses. Huge neon lights blinked in colorful flashes, and a crowd of people was already gathered at the entrance, waiting to go in.
"Whoa… it's huge!"
Uzumaki Naruto tilted his head back to stare up at it, eyes full of amazement.
"I was already excited when that uncle talked about it—let's hurry and go in," Sakura said, clenching her fingers with excitement.
Aside from Hyuga Kiyonari, the other five were seeing a movie for the first time. They looked around curiously, eyes sparkling with novelty.
Naruto looked left and right and nearly walked into a pillar. Sasuke kept a calm expression on the surface, but Kiyonari noticed his eyes constantly sweeping the surroundings. Ino and Sakura chatted excitedly about the movie posters on the wall.
Ino turned away from the poster wall and asked, "Kiyonari, where are our seats?"
Kiyonari pulled out the four tickets and handed them out, telling them to find their seats by the numbers, while he took Hinata ahead first.
Since the six tickets had been bought by two different people, the seats weren't all perfectly together.
Kiyonari led Hinata to their seats quickly—middle-back area, good view. After they sat down, he reached into his pocket to take out the two wrinkled tickets separately and put them away. Just then, his fingers brushed against a small box in his pocket.
He froze for a moment, then turned his head and called softly, "Hinata."
"Hm? What is it, Kiyonari-kun?"
At that instant, all the lights in the screening hall suddenly went out, and the whole space sank into darkness.
"Whoa!" Naruto, unprepared, let out a yelp. "Why did it suddenly get dark?!"
"Shh!" Ino, sitting next to him, immediately tugged his arm. "The movie's about to start. Didn't the projectionist just say we have to stay quiet?"
"Oh… oh."
In the darkness, Kiyonari fumbled around—and unexpectedly touched a soft hand.
That hand flinched slightly, then, as if finding something to hold onto, it gripped his hand firmly. The faint trembling—and the warmth in her palm—transmitted clearly.
Following that guidance, Kiyonari slipped the small box into Hinata's hand.
"This is for you."
"T-this… what is it?"
"Open it and you'll know."
No sooner had he spoken than the screen lit up. Images and music surged forth at the same time, pulling the hall out of darkness. The shifting light illuminated the expressions on every row of faces—and illuminated Hinata and the small box in her hands.
In that single source of light, she lowered her head and carefully opened the lid.
A delicate hairpin lay quietly on the padding. The pin body was a smooth, dark wood, and the head was a small silver flower, with a tiny moonstone set at its center.
As the changing light from the film swept over that little moonstone, it refracted dreamlike specks of shimmering glow.
Hinata's eyes widened instantly. She stared blankly at the hairpin, words completely failing her. She could feel her heart pounding violently, and her cheeks flared hot again.
"Do you remember that day?"
Kiyonari's voice brushed her ear. It was low, but to her it sounded clearer than the lines in the movie.
"That day in the accessories shop, you were holding this hairpin. But then Ishida suddenly came to talk to me, and you worried something was happening, so you rushed out."
"I passed by that shop today and saw it still in the display window, so I bought it."
Hinata lowered her eyes to the box in her hands, fingertips tracing the wood grain on the lid again and again. Her eyes reddened slightly, the flickering light from the screen brightening and dimming in her pale irises, unable to hide the sheen of tears.
"Kiyonari-kun…"
Her voice was almost swallowed by the film's music, but they were close enough that Kiyonari still heard it.
He tilted an ear toward her. "Mm?"
"Why are you so good to me…" Hinata finally forced the words out, gathering her courage.
Kiyonari snapped his head around, pupils widening. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
Hinata still kept her head lowered, but her voice was a little clearer. "Why are you so good to me? I mean… I've never really given you any gifts. It's always me who needs you…"
By the end, her voice was so small it was almost inaudible.
"Wasn't it because you worried about me first and didn't buy it?" Kiyonari scratched the back of his head, tone flat and matter-of-fact. "And it's not expensive."
"Then earlier at dinner, why did you keep secretly putting meat in my bowl? And distracting everyone…"
"Because you came to look for me this morning and I brushed you off, then I came back and found out you'd been foolishly waiting there for hours. So I wanted to make it up to you."
Hearing that, the tears in Hinata's eyes finally overflowed, rolling down her cheeks.
"N-no… you…"
Kiyonari didn't know what to say. Confusion surfaced in his eyes.
Is she crying because her fantasy broke?
Still… maybe that's fine.
Kiyonari could roughly guess Hinata's feelings for him, but he had never planned to develop things in that direction. They were too young—he'd feel like some creepy older guy coaxing a little girl. Besides, his surname wasn't Xiao.
And in any case, he felt his logic was very clear.
I felt your kindness, so I want to be kind to you in return. That was simply his "give and take" attitude toward everyone—only with Hinata, she was a bit more special, closer, so his response was a bit more attentive.
With things suddenly reaching this point, Kiyonari had no mind to keep watching the movie. After a while, Hinata's emotions finally settled.
She held Kiyonari's wrist and spoke slowly. "It's because you're this kind of Kiyonari… not everyone, after receiving sincerity, would think about… returning it. I can't… accept it and feel at peace."
"You…"
Kiyonari fell silent.
~~~
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