Mask Off, Spot On

Chapter 10.1

By the time you woke up from your 'nap', it was 1:00 p.m. already. You jolted from the bed once you noticed that, and looked around the room in search of your partner, whilst holding up the bedsheets to your neck, sighting in confusion.

You felt like the moments you had before were nothing but a dream, that perhaps, you were simply hallucinating, and you didn't really know what to think of it. But when you tried to get up, the sudden pain in your hips made it all too real for you, and you nodded to yourself in understanding. You tried to make your way to the bathroom next to Kakashi's room, stealing a clean shirt from Kakashi's closet and taking your fallen on the ground shorts with you.

You took a brief shower, and tried to brighten up. It felt like you'd been in a trance before. You'd felt like you weren't ready before, and you still felt that way, but for some reason, you'd let him do it anyway. You'd normally say something if you were bothered or feeling troubled, but this time you didn't.

When you left the bathroom with a towel around your neck, protecting your clothes from your wet hair, you bumped into Kakashi, who was about to wnter the bedroom. You stared at him wide-eyed, not knowing what to say, and you noticed him wearing his uniform already, his mask still covering his face. He stared back at you with a similar expression, but probably from merely being surprised, for his facial muscles quickly melted into a soft expression of his eyes, and you could even tell he was smiling.

Your mouth was agape, and you truly didn't know what to say. Not even a simple 'hello' was able to leave your lips. Kakashi leaned in closer to you and kissed your forehead, heading for a hug right afterwards. You felt slightly uncomfortable, and tried to push him away, but your strength just wasn't making its way to your body, and for a moment, you thought something may've been wrong with you.

Kakashi pulled back and looked at your awkward expression, and frowned.
"[Y/N], what's wrong...?" He asked, his tone sending shivers down your spine.
He seemed to be suddenly feeling a lot more familiar with you than he was, perhaps just the day before, making the feelings within you begin to swell up inside you. Even if now you could speak, you decided not to, for you were afraid that your feelings would overflow if you opened your mouth.

Even so, they still did, and tears began falling down your face, making you look down on the ground as you softly sobbed.

Kakashi felt troubled when he saw you cry. He felt like he had know idea, and at the same time, knew exactly why tears rolled down your cheeks. His reaction was rather active more than it was passive, though. He picked you up and sat you on his bed, kneeling down in front of you so that he could look at your face more properly.

"[Y/N], please tell me what's wrong. Does this have to do with--" He began, before you cut him off in between sobs.

"It has everything to do with it!" You replied. Kakashi's heart fell to the ground as realization hit him. He wanted to take your hands and hug you apologetically, but you were using them to wipe your own tears of your face, and to hide it from him.

"I'm sorry. I forced it upon you, right? You must be feeling confused, I... please forgive me for it. I won't do it again." Kakashi for the first time since you met him seemed to struggle with his words, yet, as realization hit him, it hit you too. You didn't know before, but now you realized why your chest hurt so much, why your stomach felt warm and tingly and why your eyes felt like they were watering everytime you looked at him and he was around.

You'd told him you loved him before, and you truly did. But it almost felt like you were only now realizing how much you did, and the thought made your chest hurt even more so.

"That's not it!" You stated.
"I just... I really... love you, Kakashi! So much, I don't even know what to do with it anymore. It almost hurts, and I... and really, it's true... I wasn't ready before, but... but..." You tried to continue, your sobs becoming more violent with each word. The lump you had on your throat made it hurt, and you only wanted to get it out.
"Honestly, I don't think I'll ever be ready. Everytime... you make me fall in love all over again... everytime." You stated, looking up at his face, contouring your face from crying, not really caring how creepy you must've looked like that.

Kakashi stared back at you wide eyed, and he slowly began to pull down his mask. His expression was so serious, you felt that perhaps, for a second, you hadn't somehow used the correct words to describe your feelings to him. You honestly just wanted to lean down to his face and give him a small peck, but your wet-by-tears face didn't feel like it wanted that as well.

"I love you, too, [Y/N]." He responded, making you softly sob some more.
"...I found out today that... Naruto proposed to Hinata." He stated. You looked back at him in confusion for mentioning it now, even though you felt happy for them.
"I'll be drowning with work now because of it, and surely, Sasuke, the second war hero, will want to have his turn next."

"W-What are you talking about?" You ask in confusion. Kakashi's face slowly turned into a soft, warm smile in response, and he held your hands, kissing the backs of them both.

"After that, I would like it to be our turn."

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A.n/
If I had to give this chapter a title, it would probably be something among the lines of: "Realization", or perhaps "Reconfession" (lol).