"Love doesn't have to be everlasting.
In fact, it tends to have a largely ephemeral quality if you think about it.
It can be fleeting. It can last a couple of years.
What makes love beautiful is the fact that it makes you believe in eternity,
…whether or not that love itself is true.
You know?"
-Hyuuga Hinata (age 16) -
§ Synchronicity §
Chapter1: Lullaby
Session 1: We meet again..?
He knew it the moment he saw her.
He'd found her again.
Lowering the rim of his baseball cap, Sasuke ran after her, the girl in the red pea coat.
God help him—this had to be the last time.
(Tokyo 10/06/2002- Winter)
There was a man behind her, she felt it.
Hinata dared not pick up her pace, lest whoever following her took it as a sign to "go ahead and jump me because I'm about to run." She merely stiffened up, hoping she looked casual and oblivious of the situation unfolding. That was a feat in itself—there was a whole psycho rape/kill drama enfolding in her mind.
The man would be wearing a baseball cap or a mask to hide his sinister face. He'd be toting an inconspicuous (or if you thought about it, very conspicuous) large duffel bag in which to carry around the chopped up body pieces in, after raping and killing her. And he'd shove her childish cotton underwear inside her mouth to shut her up, even though her whimpering wouldn't mount up to much—she had a naturally quiet voice.
Panic—that was what she felt.
Hadn't she read something about those kinds of brutal rape murders in the newspaper just this morning? Hadn't she and Hanabi trembled together and agreed to never walk in the night alone?
Hinata scanned the darkened street and realized in dismay that there were no one present. Not even a hobo, although that might have made things worse.
Or maybe this person following her was a horny hobo.
Eugh.
As she was thinking all this through, the person behind her made a sudden move. The rustle of movement alerted her a second too late, and before he knew it, the man was right behind her, almost close enough to breathe down the back of her neck.
Stricken, Hinata turned around and yelled into Mr. Anonymous-supposedly-a-mugger's face hysterically:
"Please—just…just take my wallet…! "
Jesus Christ, he even had a baseball cap on.
"P…Please, just don't hurt me! "
She bellowed out with the ferocity of a mouse.
The man—or rather, boy that was standing in front was peering down at her incredulously, rather as if he'd come across a three legged fish. He was surprisingly good looking with a clean-cut image, adding to the whole suspicion. God, the police wouldn't ever suspect this boy if she was ever murdered and discarded. He would breeze through the investigation—if one was ever conducted—and say something like: "Oh? I might have heard a girl scream for help…but I was listening to the gospel rendition of "You Raise Me Up" on my IPod, on my way to church. Sorry I couldn't be of much help. "
She could practically hear him say that with a certain air of irony. She could.
But instead of confirming her belief of a mugger, the boy merely spat out irritably these words:
"…do you know they did a survey about ten things guys hate most about girls? The fourth was when girls accused of us guys being rapists or perverts without proof."
She blinked. That was…random? The boy was talking about some survey…she couldn't see the relevance of what he just said and what was happening right now. Was he informing her he was a pervert? A rapist? Meanwhile, Sasuke was struggling to find a way to prove his innocence. He could practically read her mind. Her wide terror stricken eyes read: "Is he going to rape me or not? "
Ding Ding Ding. Dead on.
Not.
"I'm 'not' going to rape you—Jesus! "
"—are you going to take my money?"
"Hell no…! "
Sasuke bellowed out the words feeling foolish indeed. He couldn't believe he'd taken all this time and effort to find her…to be accused of being some random rapist or mugger.
Fate was saluting him—by giving him the finger. Thanks a lot fate. I owe you one.
"Look, I'm not a mugger, I'm not a pervert and I'm definitely 'not' a rapist—savvy? "
She still did not look convinced.
Stepping backwards, she whispered tentatively:
"…then…why are you following me? "
Good question.
Sasuke squinted and let out a gusty sigh, feeling dejected. For all that he cared, he felt like saying something ridiculous like: "To steal your school girl skirt" or "To show off my mugging skills"—but that would mean he was trampling on yet another opportunity life gave him, just for the sake of a laugh. Not that those two were very funny jokes either. Hinata looked as if she would faint if he said "boo."
"I'm…"
Sasuke was stumped.
This was the goddamn problem; he couldn't explain to her why he was following her. Telling the truth here was a stupid thing to do—he had enough experiences to know 'that' at least—but conjuring up a reasonably lie was almost as bad as telling to truth.
Impromptu creativity—where are thou when I need you?
"I'm…uh. "
Think…!
"I actually am your…guidance…buddy. From school. "
Guidance buddy?
He had an IQ of 146 and that's the best guise he could come up with? Seriously.
"Guidance buddy…"
Hinata crinkled her forehead, quite confused. Was this something about school?
She had moved to Konoha High not too long ago because of her father's business. She had not adjusted completely to the workings of the school, and perhaps, this guidance buddy deal was something of a tradition in Konoha High that she wasn't aware of yet. It was entirely possible. She wasn't much the know-it-all kind. She'd only recently found out it was possible to go out for lunch, instead of tucking in the mediocre fare the cafeteria offered. It was possible.
"Oh, then…I'm so sorry! "
She blushed in three different shades. She had accused this harmless boy of being a mugger—no, worse—a rapist. It was kind of weird that he chose to introduce himself at such a late hour, but still; Hinata was a reasonable girl. She bet he had his reasons.
And yes he did. He only managed to find her today.
"It's fine. Forget it. "
Sasuke waved away her apologies graciously. He had gone through this a million times—the same well timed words with the same blush, same everything. Better make do with this fast. Time was limited.
"As your guidance…buddy—"
Damn, he should have chosen a word that sounded less gay.
"—I'm supposed to…uh, show you around this place. Have random talks. Ask me anything and I answer best I can. That sort of deal. Get to know each other. "
He felt excruciatingly dull as he went on. Maybe he should have gone with the mugger deal and make her fall in love with violence or whatever. At least that might have been fun. But seeing her timid embarrassed expression made him change his mind swiftly. No, he will not fuck this up this time. She was worth the time. If she wasn't, he wouldn't have gone through all that…trouble.
"Okay…thank you. But…I have to go home right now so…maybe we'll talk tomorrow? "
Hinata glanced at her cell phone—1:06. It was definitely late. Her father was going to blow a fuse—not because she was late and he was worried, but because he knew she dawdled on the way back home from the library.
Or…she said library, but actually more like, her cat's grave that she dug up next to the playground she used to go to as a child.
"No prob. See you. "
Hinata would not have a clue to how hard it was for Sasuke to pry himself away after just that few measly minutes of encounter, half of which was spent tagged as a rapist/mugger. But he knew the score. He swiftly waved bye with his left hand, his right one jammed inside the pocket of his jeans.
He walked away.
Hinata stared after him for a prolonged second, then remembered herself and hurried home. Hiashi was certainly going to ground her.
Looked like she was going to need the help of that tape to fall asleep again today.
(Downtown Shinjuku)
"Where the fuck d'you think this kid is at? Hmm? "
An oddly harsh wind blew down the main road as two figures made their approach—one tall and one slender.
The tall lanky figure aimed a kick at the half filled beer can on the ground, sending it rolling down the road. He swore when the minute droplets of beer soaked his loafers.
"Beats me. "
The second figure mumbled back stifling a yawn, his willowy fingers slipping a menthol cigarette between his parted lips with the air of a seasoned lady. He sucked in the smoke gracefully, his eyes closing as if in ecstasy. The tall man watched this scene with a disgusted scowl and grunted at his companion:
"Jesus, Deidara—you look like a fucking woman smoking that pencil thin stick of shit. Be a man and smoke something real, won'tcha? "
The man called Deidara opened one of his eyes and wiggled his blonde eyebrows. Shaking out the blonde fringe from his eye, he extracted the cigarette from his mouth and spoke;
"You don't get the subtleties of things I enjoy don't you, Hidan. Nope. You're too coarse. "
Hidan bristled at that.
"Coarse my motherfucking ass! "
His voice echoed down the dirty road, sending some old hobo scrambling off.
Deidara waved the thin burning end at him, as if to prove a point. Hidan angrily grunted and spat on the ground, his spit mingling with the dirty puddle of beer. They stood in silence for a moment, the sound of the city engulfing their forms— the thudding beat of a club nearby, the cars rushing past with music blaring from the open windows, the low buzz of drunks laughing and shouting. A string of women clad in flashy form fitting clothes stumbled past them, all equally convulsed in alcohol induced laughter. A high school boy desperately trying to look older went by on a scooter with his immature giggling girlfriend in tow, their dyed hair flapping. It was a regular night in downtown Tokyo.
Hidan frowned as he stuck a finger into his ear—he hated the overwhelmingly loud noise of the city—no, actually, he just hated the city—period. Looking to the right, he found his companion happily smoking his second menthol, his long blonde tresses hiding his face, quite content. Serene even. Of course, Deidara would love anything that irked him, the lousy prick—thought Hidan.
"You think we'll ever find this kid?"
He spoke just to break the noisy silence.
"Hmm…?"
The annoying fuck still had the ghost of a satisfied smile on his conceited bourgeoisie face. Probably because he knew he still had one up on Hidan.
"I said—you think we'll ever find the little motherfucker? "
At the blatantly phrased question, Deidara shrugged lightly, not looking concerned at all by the fact that they'd been searching this kid for over a hundred years. He mindlessly flicked the burning cigarette behind his back even though it was barely one-third through—an idiosyncrasy he had, a gesture that indicated he was washing his hands off something.
"Personally, I don't give a shit if we never find him. Feels like a lost cause. Kid's too smart for his own good to get caught… besides, I like traveling with the resources Pein peddles out for us. I like seeing the world and living through histo—"
Hidan cut off the speech before it could begin its endless tedious march into oblivion.
"You talk like that one more time in front of me, I'ma reporting you to Konan, got that? You're a frickin' death angel—a grim reaper, not a historian. "
Deidara looked mildly amused now.
"Oh? Lady I-fuck-my-boss won't be too happy to see your face too dear friend, don't forget. For shirking duty and sort of letting it sneak out time to time to humans of… of what we are—you really don't hold your alcohol well Hidan. Nor your women. "
Hidan glowered viciously as Deidara tittered on. They both only remembered too well how Hidan had slurred on to that attractive woman in the sleazy bar. Lucky how she laughed it off as a hilarious joke. She probably assumed Hidan was a drunken fool-true in one sense-Deidara thought with a grin.
"Just don't forget. We're in this together, you know. "
He raised a slender hand and patted Hidan gently, with a sarcastic, almost sardonic air.
"Let's try to suburbs tomorrow, shall we? "
They left, leaving behind another waft of cool damp air.
(Bloodiedsugs30 words on Synchronicity:
It's good to be back.
Bear with me.
PS: White Nights coming soon… I promise!)