Aiko/Tobirama Valentine's special 3 of 4

Part 3

Unfortunately, she was remembering that Tobirama had always been her history class crush. Aiko pushed that fact down far into her black little soul and tried falling back on professionalism.

That veneer felt pretty pathetic after what she now recognized as half a week of pigtail pulling.

“Is this meal not to your liking?” the hostess seemed ready to have it taken away and replaced with something entirely new.

Aiko blinked back to the real world, where everyone in the room was looking at her as if she was an unstable explosive. Tobirama looked the most relaxed, but even he raised an eyebrow.

‘I must have a really scary face,’ Aiko mused, and deliberately avoided grousing on how if you kill the Daimyo just once, people never let it go. “It’s more than acceptable,” Aiko said, not bothering to try to counterbalance with assurances that the food was delicious. That would just make them even more nervous. “My thoughts were unrelated. What were you saying earlier, about the local harvest schedule?”

The older lady relaxed a bit as the conversation continued along genteel lines.

Aiko excused herself early to go to the onsen and then browse the trinkets available for purchase. There were shrine and good luck tokens, incense and small paper and fabric goods for sale. She amused herself picking out two squares of wrapping fabric and a small ink drawing of a cat.

“That is low quality paper,” Tobirama’s low voice called out.

She didn’t jump, but it was only because she was getting used to his presence at this point. She let him walk up within her personal space and frown at the art piece. “I didn’t expect anything else,” Aiko said mildly. “It’s a token, not a display piece.”

He made a disapproving sound.

Aiko snickered at his overly serious face. “Just for that, I’m giving it to you,” she threatened lazily.

Tobirama fixed his pale eyes on her and raised an eyebrow in question. “A terrible fate,” he drawled.

“You’ll have to display it.” Aiko opened her coin purse and counted out the price per item. Her  companion watched with stiff disapproval as she dropped them into the slotted wooden box that served as an honor system. “I’ll make excuses to come to your house and look for it. If I don’t find it I will cry in front of your honored brother, and he will be extremely distressed.”

“...This is a terrible threat,” Tobirama observed. His lips twitched upwards. It was very slight, but she saw it. “I would be forced to comply.”

Aiko grimaced at that. She did have a bad habit of forcing people’s hands, didn’t she? “Well, I would hate to force you.” She put the paper carefully on top of her squares of fabric, mindful not to bend it. Tobirama really was right– they had cheaped out. It ought to have a backing of an expensive paper to protect it from bending, and an envelope to keep it in.

When she started walking to her room, he fell in step beside her. She cut him a sideways glance, but didn’t comment. He had the tatami room next door, separated by only a sliding paper door for their modesty.

“There is a space,” he said slowly.

She looked up at him. God, he was tall.

His face was utterly serious as he said, “on my tokonoma. I could place it there.”

It was a struggle not to crack up at the idea of that dinky 10cm tall piece of paper in pride of place in a tokonoma.

Aiko took the peace offering for what it was. She ducked her face to avoid showing him the smile that she couldn’t repress. Maybe she hadn’t been a total insufferable bitch, then. “I could give it to you if you have such a distinguised placement.” She held it out.

He took it with both hands and rotated it very properly, as if it was part of a tea ceremony and he needed to view it properly. “I will treasure this. Goodnight, priestess.”

The rest of their trip was better. Aiko didn’t make him carry her in the morning, feeling a little guilty and embarassed that she had tried that power play in the first place. He paused, clearly expecting it, but mercifully continued on their conversation without commenting.

The actual mission was a breeze. The Water Country Daimyo had his show of heavenly approval and therefore a mandate. Tobirama lurked around looking tall and fierce, as if anyone would have bothered Aiko in the first place. It had been a really long time since someone tried to kill her.

He did do a good job of looking fierce, though. Aiko bit her lower lip for a moment before she caught herself.

‘It’s the canines,’ she told herself sheepishly. ‘Sharp teeth and the fur collar- of course that hits my buttons.’

Aiko pushed her hormones down deep where they couldn’t cause any trouble. She got through the two days in the capital of Water Country, and then she took the two of them to the gates of brand new Konoha in three hiraishin jumps.

She left him there and tried to stop thinking about him. It didn’t matter that he was tall and strong and hot and smart, and had a surprising amount of patience for her bullshit.

…She did wonder if he actually put that painting up.