Here it is, installment 2! Originally I wasn't going to post this tonight, but I figured why not. I'm sure you'll all appreciate me not leaving you in suspense. There's a lot of things that are going to be happening in this story. The first one was merely a warm up. Here is where the fun beings :D
Author Fact 6: The car mentioned in this chapter is one I really want in real life. It's a sexy car.
~Sasori's POV~
I rubbed my shoulder, still sore from last night's football practice and sighed. 'Another year, another football season.' I thought. This year would be different though. It was my senior year, and it was the first football season where I wasn't dating that obnoxious cheerleader. My hand automatically went to my neck, feeling the cool silver of the chain setting there. 'Aki..' It had been almost a year. Things hadn't been the same without her. We all went through the rest of the school year in a daze. It was almost funny how it affected each of us. Shidonii dove into her school work, using it as an escape from the situation, and earning her straight A's for the end of the year. Deidara, on the other hand, refused to focus on his schoolwork at all, and barely passed his classes. I was the happy medium so to speak. I kept my grades up enough to keep me on the football team, but my mind wandered to her quite a bit. Wondering if she was okay, or even just picturing those grey eyes I missed so much.
"I think I've finally got it!" Deidara bounced over to my side, laptop in hand. I groaned, knowing where this was going. This is what he had thrown himself into the rest of last year and the whole summer. Trying to track her down. Needless to say, his detective skills were lacking.
"Give it up Dei," I said walking through the parking lot, "it's the first day of our senior year and you can not fail any classes, you hear? Let this go and focus on school."
"No, I'm serious this time! I'm talking to someone I know from my old school right now, and they said they've seen her! Sasori, this whole time she's been going to my old high school!"
"Seriously?" I stopped to look at the conversation. "Ask him if he can talk to her today!" He frowned.
"That's where it gets difficult. They started classes yesterday, a day before us. And he said she didn't show up, and she's not there today either."
"Well, there goes that." I said, defeated. Our one actual chance and it was a bust. I waited for an answer from him to look over and see he wasn't paying attention. "Deidara." I said, waving a hand in front of his face.
"Who the hell drives that?" he asks, pointing to the red Lamborghini Aventador that had just pulled into a parking space. I gaped at the car, it was highly unusual to see a car that expensive around this town let alone at this school. The door opened and I took in a sharp breath.
"Aki." Deidara and I both whispered at the same time. We both recognized her immediately, but she was far from the same girl that had left us. She was taller, and her wavy black hair flowed down her back, back to it's original length. She was wearing black skinny jeans, a neon green and black striped sweatshirt that hung off her shoulders, converse shoes, and aviators. She pulled her backpack out of the car and slung it over her shoulder as she walked toward us. Deidara and I stood there, mouths hanging open. I had a feeling we'd be surprised when we finally saw her, but not this surprised. This girl was so different from the timid one we once knew. Not only was she hot in the looks department but she walked with a confidence that just seemed to magnify it. She walked between us and pushed our mouths shut. "You'll both catch flies ya know. And drooling isn't polite, Sasori." She gave us a smirk before continuing to make her way to the school. Deidara was the first to react. He ran up to her, and picked her up in a hug, spinning her around. "You're back!"
"Dei, put me down." she laughed. He set her down and it was my turn. I closed the distance between us and pulled her into a tight hug. I looked down at her, pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear and leaned in, my lips meeting hers. It was far too short for me, but I pulled away, looking at her seriously. "You left." I stated.
"Hi to you too." She smiled up at me. That smile, the same one I had to try so hard to get out of her, and here she was giving it freely.
"If you keep smiling like that I'll never be able to stay mad at you." I muttered, leaning my forehead against hers.
"I doubt you could anyway." Ah, her sarcasm hadn't changed a bit.
"Alright you two, break it up." Deidara laughed. "There will be plenty of time for that later. We'll be late." She turned to face him. "Right, let's go." I smiled, happy to have her back and grabbed her hand, lacing her fingers through mine. We found our way to our lockers, stopping at Aki's first. "Any idea where Shidonii is?" she asked eagerly.
"Oh crap, I forgot un. She's going to be late today. Doctors appointment. What a day to be late yeah."
"Oh." Aki frowned, finally figuring out the combination to her lock. "Well, she'll still be here today right?"
"Yeah. Probably around lunch un."
"Well, hopefully she's in the same lunch as us again."
"She is," I spoke up, "We all checked our schedules. Do you have the same as us?" We quickly compared schedules, find we all had lunch together, and Aki and I had gym together once again, this time joined by Deidara. She frowned, looking at Deidara's schedule. "Deidara, why do you have the same algebra class as me in the morning? You're a senior." He rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, you see, I may have to retake that one along with my Trig class un."
"You did not fail."
"He was busy trying to track you down." I chimed in. For a brief moment I caught a glimpse of the old Aki shining through. The afraid, worried she's a problem for everyone else, Aki. It was only a brief moment though, as she quickly regained her composure.
"You shouldn't have done that. There's reasons I left."
"Yeah, well, you didn't tell us any of them un!" he yelled.
"You're right, I didn't. Just like you didn't tell any of your friends why you were leaving your old school, no?" Deidara stopped dead in his tracks, scowling. This was a side of him I hadn't seen before. She smirked at him. "Going to punch me? Go for it. After all, that was what your crowd did." He slammed his fist against the lockers, causing me to jump. Aki seemed completely unfazed as she continued to stare him down. What on earth was going on. The bell rang then. "We'll talk in Algebra yeah." He seethed, stalking off to class.
"What was all that about?" I asked, completely confused. I had never seen him angry like that before.
"Just something he should have told you guys about a long time ago. Are him and Shidonii together yet?"
"Well, no. She wants to take her time I guess, make sure she's actually over Sasuke." Aki nodded at this, seeming pleased.
"Good," she said, "I don't want him dating her until he comes clean of his past." I gave her a puzzled look. "All in good time." She said, smiling at me. I ran my fingers down her cheek, placing my hand against her face. "You, Aki Uchiha, have changed. A lot."
"That was my goal. Glad to know I've succeeded."
"I think you forgot something when you left, by the way." I said, suddenly remembering the necklace around my neck. I pulled it off and clasped it around hers. She took the small key in her hand.
"I had my reasons, but I'm glad to have it back. I'm glad to have you back."
I smiled, walking her to her Algebra class. I had a feeling things were about to get a whole lot better.
~Deidara's POV~
I glared at Aki as she walked into the room and sat at the desk next to mine in the back of the room. "How much do you know?" I ask, not wasting any time.
"All of it." she said. "I talked to Kai. He told me about Yuki." I took in a sharp breath at the mention of her name.I looked away from her, this was it. I finally had the girl I considered my sister back and I was going to lose her again. She found out everything, who I used to be. "Deidara, look at me." I reluctantly looked over, afraid of her next response. "Do you understand now, why I left? It was the same reason you did. For a new start, a chance to change. That's what you're doing here, isn't it? Trying to pull yourself out of that dark place and redeem yourself? That's why you took up art as well. As a way to remind yourself of her." I had to give her credit. She had everything spot on, and she wasn't shy about discussing any of it.
"Yeah. I guess I did, and I guess I do understand."
"She'd be proud of you. Kai is as well." I gave her a confused a look. "You've come a long way, and I've told him that," She continued, "I told him about you driving me to the hospital that first day, and about our random video game duels and several other things. And most of all, how you've helped Shidonii. You've changed, whether you see it or not. You're halfway out of that hole, Dei, now let go so we can help pull you out. You'll never get out if you're too afraid to let go of that edge." She turned her attention to the teacher, pulling out a notebook to take notes, making it clear our conversation was over. I knew she was referring to me telling Shidonii and Sasori about my life before them.
"I don't know if I'm ready to tell them." I whispered to her. She looked over at me and smiled.
"Everything happens in due time. When you realize how much you truly care about Shidonii, you'll tell her. No one is perfect, and there are many secrets here at Leaf High that you haven't even begun to touch. Shidonii knows this better than anyone here." I frowned, turning to my notes, but lost in thought over her words.
The first half of the day passed quickly and we were finally ready for lunch. We all sat at our usual lunch table, Aki back and once more glaring at her tray of food. We heard a loud shout from the entrance to the cafeteria and looked up. This is what we had been waiting for all morning. Shidonii.