Author's note: I just had to write this before the idea expelled itself from my head. I don't know how long it will be because like MoP, this story really just emerged from a little scene I created in my head during the wee hours of the night. Comments, criticisms, suggestions, they are all welcome! Also I couldn't think of a nice title, but I'll get to that once I actually have a basic plot for this story. Thank you all xx
thanks, hiro.
.
.
Sasuke Uchiha has been following the nearly the same routine for the past five years.
He wakes up in the wee hours of dawn, at four thirty in the morning, sometimes even earlier, something he does so unintentionally. He makes himself a small breakfast and proceeds to devour it, which he manages to do in ten minutes. Then it's a ten-minute walk to the grassy cliff in the small forest beside the city, where his late parents and brother are buried. Usually no one is awake during this hour, making his walks rather lonely. When he gets to the cliff, he sits there for ten minutes, in complete silence, save for the breeze funneled by the ocean, which the cliff overlooks, and the small, soft songs of the birds.
The walk back to his house is still pretty quiet, although the sky is lighter. He often comes across Kakashi, his professor. The latter, Sasuke noted, always looks like he has too much on his mind during the times he would encounter him. Kakashi had told Sasuke he takes walks to the forst as well, to which he never elaborated upon. The two would exchange 'good mornings', maybe some small talk, and then 'have a good days'
The first thing Sasuke does upon arriving at his house is make breakfast for his kitten, a blue-eyed black cat. He had found the kitten lying alone outside a small pawn shop a few blocks from his house and decided to be its owner after concluding the feline was a newborn and could not fend for itself. After feeding the kitten, Sasuke then works out for thirty minutes: Weightlifting for ten minutes, pull-ups for five, push-ups for another five, and sit-ups for ten. After that, he takes a shower, usually lasting fifteen minutes. After getting dressed, he lies down on his bed to read a book or sleep for another hour until he goes to his part time job. Before leaving the house, he prepares food for his kitten.
Sasuke walks to work, which takes twenty minutes. He walks by shops preparing to open for the day, people hurrying to their jobs, and kids strutting to school. He works from eight to twelve as a cook at a small restaurant a block away from the university he attends. Sasuke's coworkers include childhood friends and schoolmates: Chouji, a kind, chubby boy with spiky brown hair, and Tenten, a tomboyish girl always sporting Chinese buns for her hair, are both cooks. Shikamaru, the ponytail-wearing slacker, switches between being a cook and a waiter. The waiters consist of Naruto, an ardent, blue-eyed blond boy who is unquestionably Sasuke's best friend; Kiba, who is very similar to Naruto in terms of personality and sneaks in his puppy to work, and Suigetsu, who has shark like features and is most of the time nonchalant. Temari, the oldest among them, is the receptionist. The group all attend the same university as Sasuke does and leave for school at various times, bringing with them lunch one of the cooks would make.
In the afternoons from Mondays through Thursdays, Sasuke attends two classes on his second year of college. Monday and Wednesday afternoons are occupied by Criminal Law and Criminal Investigation, the latter being the class Kakashi teaches and the one he has with Shikamaru and Gaara, Temari's little brother. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he sits in the Advanced Research Writing and Technological Transformations classrooms, sharing the class with Temari and Naruto, respectively.
In between classes, Sasuke goes to the library, heads over to a semi-hidden isolated little nook in the back, and does some schoolwork while eating his lunch. The nook is rumored to be haunted because it faces a tree which was reportedly the suicide spot of a student in the past, explaining why it is always empty. On Wednesdays, he is accompanied by a pink-haired girl who also studies in the nook. The two give each other little brief nods when one of them enters the spot, and go about doing their studies without saying anything until one leaves and mutters a bye, to which the other would respond with another quick nod.
Sasuke's classes end at seven and he walks for thirty minutes to his parents' and brother's graves, where he sits quietly for a good ten minutes before heading home. Upon stepping into his house, he is greeted by his cat with a lift of its head up to see who opened the door and then going back to its supine position by the empty bowl. Sasuke cooks dinner for the both of them and eat together. He then either studies or works out before heading to bed.
On Fridays and Saturdays, he works all day, from eight-to-eight. Sometimes he is payed extra for this, other times he isn't, to which he does not really mind. I don't have much to do, he would tell his boss.
On Sundays, he takes out the trash and takes his nameless kitty along with him for a walk in the park. After that, he gives it a bath and brushes it. Sundays are also the days he cleans up around the house.
Of course, his routine does not go exactly the same every day. There's bound to be little changes to his days every now and then. Sasuke has to buy groceries and the like on different days. He'd have enough groceries for a month, other times he'd have to stock up every week. Sometimes classes are cancelled. Some days the kitten forgets to do its business in the designated area he had assigned it in his backyard, so he has to clean up the mess it brought inside the house instead. Some of his coworkers also like to come over, especially Naruto, as Sasuke is the only one who is not living with a parent or guardian and they would drink to their heart's content. Occasionally, Sasuke has to serve as the waiter to replace one of the three's absences, much to his annoyance. Some days, he would also have to help Naruto with his schoolwork, resulting in him going over to Naruto's house because Iruka knows Naruto would not work if he were to go over Sasuke's house instead. Iruka was their elementary school teacher and Naruto's guardian. If it weren't for Iruka's tasty tomato dishes, Sasuke would not hesitate to refuse helping Naruto with his schoolwork at all.
In his first three years of the 'routine', Sasuke was in high school, so he had to be in school from eight until three and soccer practice from three till five. He also started working at the restaurant but was not present until the weekends, unless he had a game or tournament.
But none of that is of any significance
Today, Sasuke had gotten up at the usual time, ate with his kitten, and walked to his parent's graves without any disturbance. When he awoke, he had decided today was going to be like any other. Until he arrived at the cliff.
Sasuke stood dumbfounded at the site of his family's graves.
On this particular day, on the 28th of March, there was an abnormality disrupting his routine.
Utterly befuddled by the scene in front of him, he mentally narrated:
Tell me why.
Tell me why I arrived at my family's graves at five o clock in the fucking morning on a Saturday to see the Wednesday pink-haired girl from the little nook at the library sobbing and wailing uncontrollably on the ground.
He looked around to see if anyone else was around and rubbed the back of his neck.
I have been standing here for a few minutes just watching her.
I don't know what to do.
What do you do when a girl is bawling by your family's graves at five o clock in the morning?
Ah I got it.
Sasuke brought out a light cough to let her know that she now had company.
Her sobs died down and she turned his way. She stared at him for a good five seconds, her eyes dark and puffy and welling up with tears before she started wailing again.
What the hell?
Why is she crying HERE at five o clock in the morning? What the fuck is her problem?!
He clicked his tongue and brought up his arm to scratch the back of his left ear.
Does she not see the crosses on the graves? Does she not understand that the dead do not want to be disturbed?
And Sasuke came to a realization. He's seen this in a few movies before. A girl on a cliff by the ocean at an ungodly hour, crying like there was no tomorrow. It's simple and Sasuke was severely disappointed in himself for not recognizing the situation any sooner.
She wants to commit suicide.
He carefully walked towards his schoolmate and stooped down beside the distraught girl. "Look," he started. "I'd very much want this place to continue being my site of serenity, so if you kill yourself here it won't be so peaceful whenever I come anymore." Sasuke made efforts to soften his voice as much as he can.
The girl wiped her eyes with her sleeves and shifted her head to meet Sasuke's eye. "What?" She sniffed. "Oh no, I don't want to kill myself." Her voice was shaky and her lips quivered as she began her next sentence. "Although I should be dead instead," Tears trickled down her cheeks as she hiccuped, "H..hiro died."
Oh. So she lost someone.
"I'm sorry," Sasuke said and gave her a couple of pats on the back, wondering if this was the right way to console someone in such a situation. He contemplated on hugging her, which was what some people did after his family died, but ultimately decided against this option.
The girl's sobs worsened. "It's not fair! He was always there to comfort me….he was there with me for everything…..it's just not fair….he was only thirteen…" She buried her face in her hands as she sobbed even more.
She cried for a good while, slowly composing herself. Sasuke stayed beside her the whole time, as uncomfortable as he obviously was. He was supposed to be walking home right now, maybe having the same small talk with Kakashi. Instead I'm here awkwardly patting a stranger's back. Am I even supposed to be patting on her back? Should I pat her shoulder instead?
"I'm sorry I'm disturbing your place of serenity," The girl began after a few moments of only sniffs and sobs, her voice still shaky. Her green eyes were glued to the ground, but Sasuke could tell they were genuinely apologetic.
"It's all right," He responded. She did lose someone.
"He was my angel during my childhood until now. How could they just kill him!" Sasuke remained silent. So Hiro was murdered. Just like his parents.
The girl sniffed twice before continuing. "He was the best cartoon hero ever"
Sasuke turned to the girl, his onyx eyes blank and his mouth slightly open.
Oh.