my one in million

chapter 11

He stirred awake to the sound of a page being flipped oh-so quietly. "Hinata?" His mind had been too muddled to realize it, but he'd been waiting for her.

"Yes." She whispered from a few feet away.

His chest slowly expanded in a quiet, careful intake of air. "Mmh… What time is it?"

"Afternoon." Yet she spoke like it was the middle of the night and she was afraid she would wake someone. "Are you feeling okay? Do you need anything?"

No, not really. He was just waiting to hear her answer about what they talked about yesterday.

His proposal…

When she didn't show up this morning, he began to rethink his approach to the subject, maybe he should have tried to slip in a nice word or two to seal the deal. "What's for lunch?" His stomach was beginning to riot as it always did when it was empty, reminding him that if he didn't man up and start training, he would regret the gained weight later.

"Rice, lentil soup and um… looks like boiled pumpkin." The book was shut and put away to free her hands for the task of exploring the insides of a plastic bag. "Ne, I brought you a pack of pudding, s- so you don't have to wait for meal times to eat it. W- Would you like to have some now before I put it in the fridge?" he stretched his hand towards her with silent expectation, she just smiled and complied. "I'll put the rest in the first row, alright?"

"Where is the fridge anyway?"

She paced to the other side of the room and announced, "Five steps away, um… Straight ahead from the right side of the bed."

That was too far away on his body in his current condition, but he respected her a little bit more for not saying 'over here you blind bat'… "Alright." Still drowsy but undeniably hungry, he popped open the package of rice pudding and shoveled a spoonful into his mouth. "So…"

"Hm?"

He didn't want it to sound like he was worried about what she decided, or show that he was uncomfortable with not knowing, so he asked about something completely irrelevant. "What were you reading?"

At that, she blushed and struggled to find her seat again, glad that he couldn't see how flustered she was about having to answer. "Uh- um well… it's no- nothing… j- just a novel…"

He smirked. "A perverted novel?" He'd read some of those when he was younger.

"No! O-o-o-of course not! J- Just normal r- romance! A normal romance novel!"

A normal romance novel… So this is what normal nineteen year olds read when they didn't have to fight a war or travel around the world to avenge the massacre of their families…

He swallowed a big mouthful of pudding and grimaced, he hated thinking about what it might have been like if his life had been any different…

"What's the story about?" he was halfway through the container, glad for the instant relief.

"Uhm… th- the usual…" She fidgeted uncomfortably. "The rich boy who falls in love with the p- poor girl…"

It was a strange hobby to have; she belonged to a rich and prestigious clan, at one point she was the next one in line to lead it. She would definitely have whatever it is she wanted if she just asked even now, he was sure there were many, many men who dreamed of having her on their arm as a wife and baby machine. And here she was, finding pleasure in reading about the struggles of the less fortunate and their life-changing battles to have that one impossible love. Why would she enjoy the emotional trauma the characters have to go through when she has the privilege of not having to know any of it?