Fifth
Summary: Akatsuki is a famous company. Deidara and Sasori manage the magazine section. That is, until one certain pink-haired pale girl started to haunt their pictures. Deidara, being a bit too curious, goes to investigate the case. Will he find out who she was? Or die not knowing?
Epilogue: Uncomfortably pink
Today was the perfect day for the photo shooting. The sun was high up in the sky and the streets were busy with people.
Today, exactly today, was his favorite day… it was Friday. The blond artist grinned from ear to ear. Sasori-danna got the flu so it was him who would do everything on his work. He was going to be the one to describe what he wanted from the models.
Before, he always did his work without un-needed words. Because Sasori-danna was from an upper level and Pain believed the redhead, more than him. So Deidara was happy, excited and most of all, he had a feeling that today was a special day… with something more unnatural.
^.^ ^.^ ^.^
He was right in the train/metro when he saw a flash of pink. Looking at the source, he found a small girl with a baby doll dress that was blue. She had a fluffy brown teddy bear and was holding her mother's hand, talking about something. The blond felt incredibly happy today that he even flashed a smile at the girl. But the flash of pink still haunted his thoughts.
"Must have passed a cherry blossom tree," he muttered under his breath.
But still, Deidara knew that he was wrong. He knew that the urban park was the other direction. He saw that strange color again. This time in the corner of his left eye, though. He looked frantically at it, but instead saw a guy with a piercing in his left ear. Nothing pink, nothing at all.
Suddenly the blond felt the pressure of someone's gaze on him. Deidara just shoved it in the back of his mind and went out of the train/metro, when it reached its destination. Putting his earphones, he selected a random song. But the sensation remained.
Finally when he reached the studio, Deidara felt a bit relieved. The pressure was still there, but it was fainter, as if it was just a person in a deep thought looking at his back, not burning holes in his back.
"Good morning, Deidara-san," one of his models, Ino, greeted him.
The giddiness in him died away with the excitement, when he saw that pink color. So, he couldn't give a damn about anyone's well-being, not to mention the annoying blonde. It just made his mood worse.
"So, today, you all have to look rough but at the same time, fragile. Think you all can handle it?" he asked gruffly.
The girls gave him a confirming nod and so the photo shooting started.
"Tenten, you look as if you want to kill Hinata, so soften up a bit," he commanded.
All of these girls looked breath-taking, though it was far away from the art he created. His art was always fleeting, so he started to wonder why he felt so giddy about this.
Ino had a beautiful exotic midnight blue gown that had slits in many places. Her hair was pulled up in a sloppy bun held by two chopsticks. The platinum blonde had died her hair in the color of blue that was shown as streaks. She put a hand on her hip and sharpened her shoulders, winking at the camera.
Tenten wore a yellow kimono that seemed to just fall to the ground. It had a black obi that was displayed by a huge bow on her back. Her hair was in the same two Chinese-like buns. She crossed her hands over her chest in a Napoleon style and had a possessive stance, but the way she looked at the camera, so hopeless, so lost. It was definitely what he needed.
Temari had her hair straight and it had white streaks. A large fan with purple dots was behind her and her jade green cocktail dress. Putting her elbow on said fan, she smiled cockily at the camera.
Hinata had a white kimono that had a tree with brown leaves as if it was autumn. She had a golden obi that was smaller to the contrast of Tenten. She just looked at the camera with a questioning look. Well, he'll crop her out.
After about five-six shots he called out a break and started analyzing them.
Interesting, on the last picture, there were five models. It didn't help that the fifth one had pink hair.
"Hey, there are only four of you guys, right?" he asked to confirm his thoughts.
"Yea, what happened?"
"Just, I thought that Sasori-danna told me that there were five girls for the shoot," he lied easily, almost automatically.
The fifth girl had bright pink hair that was up to her chin. Her forehead was slightly large but it didn't un-balance her face proportion. She had apple green eyes and long dark lashes. She wore simple everyday attire that consisted of a pink long sleeved cotton shirt and faded blue jeans that was slightly torn. The pinkette was looking at the sky and looked as if she was about to break into parts.
Suddenly, he saw that flash of pink in his right eye again. It was as if the girl from the photo came right next to him. He rapidly looked at his side only to find nothing. That heavy pressure of somebody's gaze on him was felt again. Deidara actually thought that the 'stalker' had left. But it seems that the blond was wrong.
The pencil box in his right fell to the floor. After picking it up, he saw a pair of pale – a bit too pale – set of legs. He thought it was Ino, since the Yamanaka was literally throwing herself at him since she signed the contract.
So, in other words, he was shocked that it was the same girl from the last shot. The girl looked at the screen of the laptop and looked at him for a mere second with those faded, dead green eyes. As if on cue, the Yamanaka called him.
"Deidara-kun how was I?" she came rushing to him, pressing her figure to his.
He felt disgusted. He hated cheap girls. She was definitely one of them. Actually, he could get a one-night stand in any day. But he would make sure that it was just one-night stand, nothing more.
"Like the usual," he mumbled and turned his head to look at the pinkette to only find nothing from her.
He grinned. She was art alright, just like art she was fleeting.
"Wait. Who is this girl?" the blonde pointed at the pinkette. "I don't remember shooting the pic with her," she mumbled.
"Not my problem."
With that he went to find that pink-haired girl. Though, the color of her hair reminded him vaguely of something. So much that it wouldn't be pushed back to a little dark corner of his memory.
Suddenly, he felt something soft next to his leg. It was cold. Cold that he could even sense it through his jeans. It raised his hairs on his back. Looking down, he saw a black cat. He frowned. Deidara never liked cats. And to top that, pets were not allowed in the studio. Suddenly the pinkette was under the table with the cat and got out.
"Sorry, mister," she said faintly.
Her voice was ringing through his ear like a chime of a bell in the quiet room.
"Deidara-san, wh-why are you staring at empty s-space?" the Hyuuga asked.
"Oh, nothing just spaced out for a moment," he said automatically and was about to continue to work when it dawned him.
He was staring at empty space, the empty space being the pink haired girl and her cat. He looked at his watch and saw that today was the Friday the thirteenth. A black cat crossed his path. And he vaguely remembered how he went under a ladder.
"Oh, shit."
That was all he could mutter before looking at both of his sides to make sure the pinkette wasn't standing there.
Deidara saw a flash of pink again and said frantically.
"There, did you see that!"
"What?"
"That flashes of pink!"
The girls just looked at him as if he was losing it. Exactly, he was losing it. He couldn't go mental right now. Not when it was his first time to shoot the photos and have his name as the main photographer and not the assistant. He needed to play cool, right now.
"You girls believed me? Oh come on. I was only acting and you believed it," the blond said with a boyish grin.
"Wow, Deidara-kun, you are such a talented actor," Yamanaka drawled.
"Yea, whatever," he slightly pushed away the Yamanaka and got up.
Something here, wasn't adding up. That strange pink color in the train and-
Wait, pink? The fifth model's hair was pink! That meant that this girl was just a girl who wished so badly to become a model that she even went so far to stalk him! Of course! That would be the reason why he saw a lot of that awful color. But then, as if purposely, a sentence that the blonde said started ringing in his mind.
I don't remember shooting the pic with her, did that mean?
No, it couldn't. Ghosts aren't real. Nothing paranormal is. But then… what he just experienced did nothing but to prove him wrong.
"I'll come back tomorrow," a faint voice said behind him, a pressure on his shoulder as if there was a hand on it. It was cold, almost freezing, but yet, the pressure was so small that he barely felt it. Even then, Deidara knew that the hand was there. It was light as a feather, but the freezing sensation remained on his shoulder blades. He looked back, expecting to see one of the girls but no, the cruel gambler called faith just showed him that he lost.
It was that pink haired girl. This time, he saw her fully. She had a petite figure that suited her perfectly. Long legs that seemed to go on for miles just added the perfect touch for her body. That pale skin that he considered to be unhealthy seemed almost see-through. But her feet were bare. He couldn't understand why, though.
Her voice was chiming in the air just like the sound of a pin dropping.
"There you go again, Dei, stop the spaceship and give us some time to give a few tips," Temari said impatiently. Really he couldn't figure out why on Earth Pain hired her. To tell the truth, her features were rougher than the other girls'.
Must be the money of her family, he thought.
But still she had good poses to hide her imperfection.
Shaking his head and then running a hand through his hair – careful not to mess his hair – he apologized and told them that he felt bad and needed a talk with Sasori-danna.
Ino pouted.
"Oh, Deidara-kun," she looked up under her lashes to him, "There are a lot of these nice movies in the theatres," she winked.
"Sadly, I'm not interested," he said roughly before pushing away from the crowd of girls and looking for the pink haired maiden, who was the fifth.
A/N: who said that the bad little Cherryqueen567 wouldn't come back? This site, to tell the truth, is really addicting. And then, please enjoy this little story of mine. It isn't fully horror but mostly something close to supernatural. And thus, be ready to be freaked out, if you are reading this at night. Oh, and just a warning, after reading this, don't play the Ouja Board, don't even dare to look in a mirror and please keep away from cameras.
Love, Cherry