SasuSaku. AU. I waited twenty-two years, three months, and twenty-six days...
only to find out that he loved me, too. And it's sad to know that I'm still in love
with someone who used to love me.

Blue eyes widen at your direction.

"S-Sakura-chan, that's—" he begins, but you put up a hand to stop whatever he has to say.

"Yes, Naruto," you say, and you do not let your eyes leave your latest masterpiece. Being a physics and engineering major does you good, after all. "It's finished."

The blond man gazes at you grimly and keeps his mouth shut. You are aware of all the thoughts that run in his head, but you couldn't care any lesser than you do now. You ignore his warnings and deafen your ears to his silent argument.

"I don't care, Naruto," you whisper, referring to his silent plea. "This is my only chance. This is my only chance to save you and our friends from this fucking misery. This is my only chance to fix my mistakes.

"This is my only chance to save him."

DEVOURED

i. PROLOGUE
"Things we do and don't do—we regret."

"Is it OK?"

You blink. "W-What is?"

"If I accept her offer?" he continues.

You force a smile even though you know that your lips will end up shaking at its corners. It is definitely not OK, but you don't have any other choice, do you? You have no hold on Sasuke Uchiha, anyway, and you are just a friend.

So you nod and say, "Yes. Sure. Date her—she's pretty, she's smart, and she's fun to be with."

He does not look at you and you watch as his lips purse together into a thin line. It takes him a few more moments, but he finally tells you, "You're right. Maybe I should."

You have no right, but you do anyway. You let your heart sink, and, most especially, you let the only person that matters the most to you walk away to another girl. It's OK. Ino Yamanaka—your best friend—will do him good.

It's OK. Sasuke is in good hands if he ends up with your best friend.

"I should go," says Sasuke, finally looking at you.

You look away and continue, "To Ino?"

"...Hn."

A part of you forces out a "Don't let him go!" but you will not hear any of it. You vow to make him happy. It's OK.

Sasuke pauses and hands you your notes back. He has originally come to you in your resting place—under the huge tree overlooking the vast fields of Tokyo U—to borrow your notebook, that much you are sure, but he is returning it to you now. It is as though he does not really need it in the first place.

You shake off the hesitation anyway as you take the notebook from him and watch him go. He pauses a little away from you, and when you think he is about to say something, he resumes walking.

When he has left, it is when you feel the wave of pain. You bask in the hurt and personal torture for a few more minutes—half an hour, maybe?—then swallow the huge lump stuck in your throat.

It's not OK, dammit.

Sasuke is an idiot for not noticing. It's not OK.

You breathe in and force away the tears that threaten to escape. Do not cry. You let him go, you said it's OK—so be all right.

You wet your lips and decide to study for the exam you have tomorrow—the reason why Sasuke was supposed to borrow your notes. You major in Instrumentation in your degree program, while Sasuke takes Electrical Engineering.

You both have a Physics subject together, and Sasuke never really takes down notes.

A small smile escapes at the memories you have together in that one class, and you flip open your notebook at a random page. The smile, however, slips away as quick as it has appeared, and your heart—which has continually plummeted down since the moment he has asked you if it is OK to accept Ino's offer—finally reaches the bottom and breaks.

Flanked in between the pages is a ripped out sheet of paper.

After reading what is written on it, you close your notebook shut and set it down on the grassy space beside you. You close your eyes and will the tears to leave, but they would not. They will not.

You start to cry, and the words on the flimsy sheet of paper echo in your head.

Please say "It's not OK". Don't let me go.

You let him go, but maybe—maybe there's time! Maybe you can stop him, tell him you're not OK with it and—

Your cell phone rings, and you hastily fish for it from your hand bag. Sasuke. Your battered Xperia x10 lights up with every ring, and your heart thuds strongly against your breastbone as you read the caller ID.

Ino.

Shakily, you answer the call.

"Forehead!"

You wait for her to continue.

"Oh my god, Forehead! Sasuke agreed to date me!"

Tears fall, and despite it all, you force another smile. No body will see anyway—the pain in your smile, that is—not even yourself, so you smile, and you let a mental mantra to run in your head—It's OK.

"That's nice, Ino!" you answer with equal enthusiasm. You, however, stammer the next time. "T-That's really great! I'm happy for you."

You're a hypocrite.

Because how can you be "all right"—"OK"—when you're actually hurting? You're such an idiot.

To be continued

Notes: Based off from the manga entitled "ORANGE" by Takano Ichigo. :)