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"Psst! Hey, Hinata!"

The brunette samurai nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden noise. Hand flying to the hilt of his sword, he whipped around to see you peeking around the corner, glancing around before approaching him.

"Man, I almost skewered you!" Hinata breathed, relaxing as you shot him a trademark eyeroll that he knew well. "What are you doin', sneaking around at this time of the night?"

"Looking for you, obviously," you replied, jerking a thumb over your shoulder. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"What? I can't go now! I have patrol duty tonight, and-"

"No, you don't - I got somebody to cover for you." you replied, grabbing his arm and pulling, as if trying to urge on a stubborn horse. "I know you wanted to go to the display tonight and you only got stuck doing this because you're a royal retainer - but if we hurry up, we can still catch it."

Hinata never was able to say no to a lady at the best of times, and really, going off with you versus border checks really wasn't much of a competition. Perhaps he might have argued if it was merely a friend, but he knew that you would make sure his shift didn't fall to someone untrustworthy and he never had a chance to be alone with you…you both tended to have wildly fluctuated schedules and of course he had his duties to the Prince, but now… now was a rare opportunity. Despite his previous resignation to an evening of boredom, his face broke into an enthusiastic grin.

"Fine by me - let's go!"

~

Grass rustled under your feet as you and Hinata climbed uphill, the chattering of insects loud in your ears, as if you had walked in on them gossiping. You had to admit that you were a little out of breath after the walk from the compound and now this, your thighs and the soles of your feet aching in protest.

"Alright...I think we're near enough," you said at length, falling down into a sitting position with a sigh of relief.

You had left the compound far too late to get any of the seats in the specially-made stands, where people would be warmed by the glow of the bonfire, but it was still pleasant enough up here on the hill, and the sky was clear enough that you could see constellations up the, if you were so inclined to seek them out.

"You're tired out already," Hinata smirked, taking a seat beside you.

"Yeah, well, some of us don't train themselves into the ground like you do," you retorted, pushing your hair out of your face, as it was sticking to your forehead with seat. "When we're not trying to avoid getting skewered on the battlefield, I like to actually relax every now and then."

Hinata laughed slightly at that - it was definitely true when it to work ethic, your approaches were very...different. But despite that, you had a mutual respect for one another and you could see that Hinata deserved some time to have fun, too.

“There, look!” you suddenly said, pointing.

Turning your eyes to the skies, you and Hinata both let out gasps of delight when the first firework went off – an explosion of champagne-coloured sparks rained down from the heavens, twinkling brightly for a moment before vanishing into ash. It was rare to see such colours that exploded into life – emerald green, indigo, cerulean, carmine…there was something breathtaking about watching how each one was different; some fanning out like a flower blooming, sped-up, whereas others exploded before seeming to rain down in a shower of sparks. You could hear people making sounds of amazement from the stands, despite themselves and felt an immense surge of satisfaction that you’d picked a spot with such a viewpoint.

You turned to Hinata, who was sitting with his head tilted up, a smile on his face that made him look younger, somehow, more free.

“And think, without me you’d have missed this, stuck back at the base,” you told him, giving him a playful nudge with your elbow and sweeping a hand up at the sky, which was smoky with the fireworks, stars winking through the smog. “Gorgeous, right?”
Hinata looked at you and a playful smirk crossed his face, taking you aback. Before you could ask him what he was planning, he leaned forwards and pressed his lips to yours. You flailed your arms for a second in shock before just letting yourself relax into it – Hinata’s hand cupped the base of your head, fingers sinking into your hair before he pulled back again.

“Yeah, but not nearly as much as you.”

“Oh my god, you didn’t just say something so cheesy,” you said, but you couldn’t keep the goofy smile off your face.

Hinata laughed and slung and arm around your shoulder, pulling you into a clumsy, one-armed hug. You snorted, but contentedly leant back into him, listening to the thrum of his heartbeat, silhouetted by a shower of glittering sparks. Maybe tomorrow you’d both be called into another battle, or have to make a new journey to some unknown territory, but for now, none of that mattered. And in Hinata’s mind, of the sights he’d seen tonight, from beginning to end, that smile was definitely the best thing of all of them.