Behind The Scenes
Chapter One
It was raining.
The gentle pitter-pattering sound of the water droplets hitting the window lulled the teenage girl out of her peaceful sleep and she began to stir.
Hikaru Mori cracked open a sleep-deprived eye and sat up, stretching her arms above her head until she heard a satisfying crack.
Tilting her head and rubbing her face with a pale hand, she caught sight of the clock that rested on her bedside table and paused.
09:36AM.
She stared blankly at the time for a moment, her mind still sluggish, before it clicked in her head.
"I'm late for school." She said slowly, repeating the words a few times.
She picked up her pillow, pressed it to her face, and released a frustrated scream into it.
"Gaara is such an asshole." Hikaru sighed, yanking on a handful of her long hair to wake her up. She sat there, running her fingers through the white strands, attempting to remove the tangles, nibbling on her bottom lip as she thought back to the previous night.
She had woken up at one in the morning to Gaara at her door. He hadn't been able to sleep again, and came to her for company. They had curled up in her bed, smoking and drinking cheap coffee and talking about things that didn't matter. Despite the massive amount of caffeine she had consumed, she had still fell asleep. No surprises there – she slept like the dead.
Hikaru snapped out of her daydream when her phone buzzed loudly.
Startled, she off her bed, hitting the ground with a thud.
"I hate my life," She mumbled into the scratchy carpet before standing up gingerly, rubbing her hip from where it had connected sharply with the ground, "Oww."
Plucking her phone off her desk, she flicked it open and started clicking away at the keypad.
1 New Message.
She selected the unopened envelope option and the unread message popped up.
It was from Gaara.
despite how late you are, i'm the only one who's realised you're gone. not sure if that's good or bad. naruto keeps annoying me, hurry up and get in here. –G
He always signed off his texts with a G, it was a trademark of his she had grown fond of.
Hikaru hastily typed back a reply.
you're an asshole. wake me up next time and maybe i won't be late. because of your text i fell over and nearly died. i blame you for my suffering. :( i'll get there when i get there, dick. x
To the untrained eye, her message might have seemed pissed off, but it was just the way she talked. She was joking, and the kiss at the end was something she usually ended her texts with.
Hikaru sent the text and snapped her phone shut and started unbuttoning the oversized shirt she had slept in. Shimmying out of her clothes gracefully, she started rummaging through her wardrobe, pulling out the first thing she saw and shoved it on.
She smoothed her top self-consciously, studying her outfit with golden eyes.
A giant, baggy green cardigan, her favourite pair of denim shorts with the rips at the bottom, and a pale blue tank top that hung off her slender frame.
Hmm. It would do. She wasn't that picky about how she looked.
She glanced at the clock. 10:01AM.
"I don't want detention." Hikaru half-wailed, rushing into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. After she had done so, she spritzed herself with perfume and patted white powder over her face to make her complexion seem even paler.
It was still raining, but school was only a five-minute walk away, and she didn't have time to find an umbrella. Slinging her schoolbag over her shoulder, she hesitantly wandered outside into the rain, locking the door behind her.
The rain fell heavily, making her hair stick to her face.
"Oh man," Hikaru scowled up at the cloudy sky, "I really hate Gaara."
x.x.x.x
Hikaru stomped into school with dripping wet hair and she smelt faintly of cigarettes and shampoo. She rushed through the corridor to her Media class, leaving a little trail of water behind her.
Reaching her destination at last, she tugged open the classroom door with a little too much force and staggered into the room, letting the door shut itself behind her.
"Sorry I'm late, Anko-sensei." She said, sticking her hands in her damp pockets.
Her teacher simple shrugged in return, sipping a glass of what looked suspiciously like sake.
"Whatever." The women replied, kicking off her shoes and propping her feet up on her desk.
Hikaru blinked and took her regular seat beside a certain redhead and sent him a dirty look.
"I could have gotten detention if I didn't make it time for Anko-sensei's class." She scolded him, lips pursed, eyebrows raised, "You're an asshole."
Gaara didn't reply, but she saw his lips twitch upwards for a moment before his face returned to its usually stoic expression.
"I stayed up with you all last night, at least wake me up when you're leaving next time." She continued, although the anger had gone from her voice.
"You didn't stay up all night." Gaara finally answered, shooting her a look of amusement, "You fell asleep after an hour."
"Hey man, I need my beauty sleep." She countered, a smile spreading across her face.
He grunted in return, and they lapsed into a comfortable silence.
Hikaru scrunched up her hair and squeezed the water out of it, letting the liquid fall and form a small puddle on the floor.
Gaara watched her movements with curious eyes, and she glanced up, catching him observing her.
She responded with a slightly embarrassed smile and scratched her cheek, and he put his head on his desk, but angled his face so he could shoot her one of his rare, one of a kind grins which made Hikaru want to cuddle him.
And plait his hair. But don't tell him that.
The sweet moment was broken by a familiar voice.
"Ooh, what's going on here~?"
Hikaru raised her eyes, and grinned at Suigetsu. He was a dick, but she was still fond of him.
Gaara turned his head away from the two – he didn't like being caught showing such a personal sign of affection.
"Fuck off." Hikaru drawled, but her voice was teasing.
Suigetsu pouted and leant down to wrap his arms around the small girl in a hug, and Hikaru linked her hands behind his head, looking up at him innocently.
She didn't see the way that Gaara's back stiffened, but Suigetsu did.
Oh, how he loved to tease the redhead.
"You stink like tobacco." Suigetsu declared, sniffing her hair, "And oranges."
"You smell like asshole." Hikaru said with a smirk.
Suigetsu grimaced, pulling away from her, but left his hands lightly clasping her narrow shoulders.
"Oh god, ewww." He smelt himself and pretended to retch.
Hikaru laughed loudly, tilting back her head, and Suigetsu's gaze flickered to Gaara, seeing how the grumpy teen's eyes followed the girl's movements.
Suigetsu found the action rather sweet, but at the same time, a bit creepy and stalkerish. Gaara really needed to lighten up. And grow some eyebrows.
Sniggering at the thought of Gaara with Rock Lee eyebrows, he tossed a packet of cigarettes on Hikaru's desk, patted her on the head, and went back to his group of friends.
Hikaru pocketed the cancer sticks with a grin; her cheeks flushed pink with pleasure.
"He always knows when I'm running out." She said to Gaara, who simply blinked impassively at her.
She rolled at eyes at him and rested her chin on the palm of her hand, waiting impatiently for the class to end.
x.x.x.x
Hikaru sat at a table in the canteen, eating a bowlful of the cheap curry and rice that the school had made.
Why did they always have to make their lunches taste so bad?
Gaara sat opposite her, and his older brother Kankuro was at her side.
"This is gross." She whined, and Kankuro chuckled, sipping at a mug of coffee like it was his life force.
She watched Gaara neatly spoon the food into his mouth, and their eyes met. He looked confused.
Hiding an amused grin, she started to chat to Kankuro about how hard Maths was, and Kankuro nodded along, not really listening.
"I just don't understand the point in it, I mean-" She paused when she heard the canteen quieten into silence.
Everyone seemed to be staring at something, well, technically, they were staring at somebody.
A teenage girl had shuffled into the massive hall from the outside, and she was drenched in rainwater, he brown hair hanging damply over her face. Slowly, she went up and collected her food, leaving puddles behind her.
The whole room started to laugh, and Hikaru watched at the girl slowly made herself towards an empty table. Her head was down, eyes focused on the tiled floor.
She walked straight into Karin, who had been babbling to her cronies about Sasuke.
Hikaru felt her heart stabbed with violent pity as Karin started screaming.
The girl's food had been smeared over Karin's pristine white top, and boy, was she pissed.
"You fucking moron!" Karin shrieked as curry dribbled down her front, "Look what you did!"
Hikaru heard the girl stammer a soft apology, but Karin only grew madder. Her friends clustered around the poor girl, and they began to taunt her.
"Jesus, who is that girl?" Hikaru hissed at the brothers. Gaara shrugged, but Kankuro actually answered.
"She's called Elliot." He said, "Freshmen."
"Why does she have an English name?" Hikaru asked, confused.
"Parents are American, I think. She moved here recently." He spread out his hands in an apology, "That's all I know, sorry."
She stared at the girl, Elliot. A crowd had swamped her, and she couldn't even see the teenager anymore.
"Bitch! Bitch! Bitch!" The group of people chanted, and Hikaru watched in horror as she heard the sound of someone hitting someone, and a shriek of pain.
She leapt to her feet, only to be tugged back by cool fingers.
"What are you doing?" Gaara said, his face was calm, but his eyes were flashing with anger.
"I'm not gonna let them beat a defenceless girl!" She hissed, wrenching her wrist out of his grip and storming over to the group.
Gaara hovered back, unsure what to do, and Kankuro watched in amused fascination as Hikaru started shoving people out of the way.
"Fucking move, you assholes!" She hollered, squeezing past a fat kid until she saw Elliot.
The girl was on her knees, and tears were streaming down her face. Her lip was split and bleeding.
A boy with wicked violet eyes loomed over her, blood on his pale knuckles.
Hikaru snapped.
She launched herself at the boy and kicked him in the balls before he even had time to react.
He released a curse and doubled over, cupping his privates.
"Don't you EVER hurt someone who can't fight back!" Hikaru screamed at him, jabbing a finger in his direction.
She spun around and pulled Elliot to her feet, glaring daggers at the people around her.
"You people make me fucking sick." She snarled, and tugged the crying girl with her to the bathrooms, hearing someone yell a threat that she couldn't quite make out; all she heard were the words Jashin and kill.
She ignored them, and when they had entered the bathroom, she started checking Elliot over for injuries.
The girl seemed fine, except for her injured mouth. She was trembling but had stopped crying.
Hikaru pulled a crumpled tissue out of her pocket and gently dabbed at the Elliot's face, wiping up the blood and tears.
She was used to treating wounds – having Gaara as a best friend, you would need to be.
Elliot regarded her with fear and suspicion, her blue eyes very big.
"W-why are you being so nice to me?" She stammered.
"Because you're letting me." Hikaru replied with a gentle smile, "I'm Hikaru, by the way."
Elliot fell silent, looking at Hikaru as if she was from another planet.
Hikaru pulled back, studying Elliot's face.
"You'll need ice for you mouth, so it doesn't swell."
She was answered with a silent nod, and she swayed slightly. Hikaru made a move to help her, but Elliot shot her a glare and stepped away.
"I can take care of myself from here." Elliot piped up suddenly, her voice hostile.
Hikaru blinked; startled and hurt.
"You sure?"
Again, she was met with another nod.
Hikaru shrugged and stuck her hands in her pockets.
"Be more careful." She called over her shoulder as she sauntered out, feeling slightly insulted.
Jeez, she was only trying to help.
Today was so not her day.
x.x.x.x
This was written by Momo, or Tortoise-chan. c:
I hoped you like it, I'm sorry about any OOCness.
Review please? It'll make Chy-chan update faster. *Wink*