A Day at the Amusement Park

Fireworks and Fountains

Despite the tiny explosions going off right outside of the cab, Sarada's gaze remained on the idiot she had known since childhood. She could have sworn he just complimented her appearance... But why? Why now...

When he said nothing, she slowly turned away, wondering if she had misheard. But through the explosions, in a small voice, the words, "the cat ears," registered in her brain.

"They're not bad, ya know."

Face exploding with the strontium outside, she blinked at his reflection in her own window. His cheeks were tinged with too much pink, eyes staring somewhere far off into the distance, probably going to try and attempt to brush this off as a simple compliment. After all, Mitsuki had told her that they suited her. Boruto had simply said the same thing.

But why. Why was it making her heart feel like someone was having a bass boosted rock concert inside of it? And... after he had said the exact opposite, why was he choosing now to compliment her? Also, what was up with that question about the stalker? It was like he was testing the waters for...

A confession.

Sarada squirmed in the hard plastic seat, her hands gripping her phone in her lap. She desperately tried to pay attention to the fireworks, but that wasn't working. What was she supposed to say?

No, calm down Sarada. He just complimented you. You're taking this way too far. You could compliment him back, and then it would seem normal. Yeah. Normal.

"You too..."

She heard him shift, his distant gaze snapping back into the window only to realize she was looking at him through it. Crap. "I mean... You don't look bad in them... Or anything..."

Sarada fidgeted with her hands in her lap, stealing a gaze up at him as he, in turn, blinked down at his own legs.

Suddenly, his left hand slid out and onto the bench, palm flat against the white plastic. "Your hand," he muttered, hiding his reddened face with the other. "For the roller-coaster... We never decided what the winner would get."

She blinked up at him, not through the reflection this time, the breath hitching in her throat.

"Until Mitsuki comes back... Your punishment is to suffer the embarrassment of holding my hand."

Her eyes met his relaxed palm, fingers slightly parted. She slowly and carefully slid hers over until their fingertips were barely touching, and when he moved to intertwine them, her heart nearly leapt out of her chest.

But she kept her gaze outside, face flushed as the warmth of their connected hands began to heat the cold plastic.

Not a word was said.

They simply watched the fireworks, drowning in their heartbeats that were much to fast as their vision fuzzed in and out, the lights becoming a distant blur.

.  .  .

Boruto eventually turned. He couldn't see the fireworks from his side of the window. But it wasn't really the fireworks he wanted to view. As if he was looking through a camera filter, he saw her, dark eyelashes blinking slowly against the bright background, eyes reflecting flecks of green and purple, cheeks rosy red. Suddenly, the fake ears on top of her head seemed insignificant, and he nearly reached out with his other hand to remove them.

But just as she was alerted to his movement and turned towards him, the cab door opened.

They jerked away from each other and pretended like nothing was happening, both staring hard out the window.

"Hm? Was I interrupting?"

"N-No," Boruto managed to stammer out, his right side pressed up against the cold metal, hand in a fist at his side. "Did you find him?"