I Tripped and Fell in Love With You

Chapter 1: Fate

Obito jolted at his desk for the umpteenth time since he moved in. His roommate, or rather, best friend had kicked open his door and demanded his attention, holding little regard for privacy in one's room.

Cursing and unbunching his shoulders, Obito tore the headphones from his head, clattering random keys on his keyboard in the process. He glared at the intruder. "What now?"

Kakashi crossed his arms over his thin t-shirt and leaned on the doorway. The pose wasn't complete until he jerked his chin to swing his mess of silver hair out of his face. He regarded him with something akin to contempt, like a parent convincing their unruly child to clean their room. "Get dressed. We're running errands today."

Obito grumbled, "What if I don't wanna go?"

"When's the last time you saw the sun? It'll do you some good."

Great, the nagging started. Not without merit, Obito couldn't remember the last time he left the apartment; most likely when he was dragged along to get groceries last week, but still, he was in the middle of a boss fight and the soft dings coming from his headphones foretold the slew of angry messages he was getting.

Haughtily, he turned around and backspaced the gibberish in the chat box he wrote on accident and hovered his fingers over the keys. Kakashi's stare was boring a hole in his back. "Fine.." He typed a quick excuse to the other members and logged off. Next time he logged on, his character would be in the graveyard and he would be bumped down a rank in the guild. "I said fine, I'm going," he grunted. Kakashi left the doorway to finish putting product in his hair.

Shuffling through the heaps of clothes on the closet floor, then the one at the end of his bed, Obito shoved his legs in some light wash jeans and pulled on a faded black hoodie over his head, disregarding the state of his bedhead. The hoodie wasn't bought faded in the fashionable way, nor were the holes near the cuffs on purpose; it was a security blanket of sorts and his dependency on it showed.

At the front door, Kakashi looped a blue surgical face mask over his ears, inspecting Obito warily. "Isn't it a little hot for that today?"

Obito picked at one of the holes. "I'd rather cover up.."

"Not feeling up to it?"

"The stares? Can't say that I am."

Kakashi's eyes fell sympathetically. He toed Obito's worn sneakers over to him with the edge of his Converse and tried to lighten the mood, "We won't be out too long. Maybe you'll have fun." His words were considerate, but his voice lacked conviction knowing Obito's struggles to take the first step out the door, the car, and into an unkind world not fit for him.

~~~

The thrift store's fluorescent lights flickered above Emiko, but the treasure hunt was enough of a distraction. Metal hangers scraped the aluminum rack, screeching in protest, as she pushed an entire section of long sleeve button ups away from her, working her fingers through the stack, flipping hangers one by one to the open space she created. Her eyes scanned each tag at the collars with trained precision.

Not old enough, not old enough, not old enough, bingo!

The tan, forest green, and maroon striped Tommy Hilfiger button up was thrown on top of the pile weighing down her other arm, bicep straining under the burden. Another push and the scrape, scrape, scrape continued.

Emiko's pupils dilated. Two down, beyond the modern discount branded shirts was a 1980's Sears tag with its iconic boxed in font. She disregarded the others and reached for it, grabbed the hanger. Hunger eclipsed his rises. Her heart deafened her hearing.