A stark frown had spread across Hidan's features the moment he stepped into the soundless little kitchen inside the soundless little house.

His midnight shift at the grocery store ended at three, and since they lived so close to the supermarket he could be home fairly soon after he clocked out. Hidan liked working there, because not only did he get an employee discount on the simply necessities of life, but he also got to take home things for free- the things just barely passed the expiration date, but weren't fit to be sold.

And there was one thing he always took home with him, for Deidara.

Cinnamon raisin bagels.

They had always been the blonde's favorite. Every afternoon snack, every meal in between and Deidara had one in his mouth- a big sloppy smile spread across his face, clearly disregarding the fact that a plate was useless when it would be in his stomach sooner than on a plate. Sometimes eagerness prevented him from even toasting them- which to Hidan, clearly meant they were a cherished necessity of Deidara's life.

He'd brought a new bag home with him from work that night to swap with the other one- more than likely they'd gotten stale by now and Deidara was in need of a little cheering up. Everyone needed a little something to make them feel better- and Hidan knew out of everyone it was Deidara who deserved the cheering up the most... The once lively ball of energy had grown quiet and secluded- and though Hidan didn't typically get days off it had been weeks since he'd seen Deidara.

But the kid was depressed- and the kid had lost a bit of weight.

And the cinnamon raisin bagels from last time hadn't even been opened. Which was the very cause of the large frown that Hidan was currently wearing on his face.

Hidan sighed closing his eyes as he set the new bag on the counter next to the unopened ones, honestly he didn't even know what to do with the blonde anymore... Any time Hidan tried to talk to him Deidara always had an excuse.

"I'm not depressed I'm just tired. Long day at school today."

"Got swamped with a lot of homework, I'll eat later, un."

"I'm crying because there was something sad on television."

"I just don't feel well, un."

"I ate at Itachi's."

Excuses, fucking excuses, and Deidara was either an expert at lying or he was being honest and sincere. Hidan sincerely doubted the latter of the two. Either way perhaps Kakuzu would be able to cheer him up- Kakuzu seemed to like Deidara a lot, and the two were alone together sometimes during the week. Perhaps Hidan could get his boyfriend to cheer the kid up.

Perhaps.

Third period. It had rolled around slowly.

Why did it seem like when Deidara wanted the day to go by fast it went as slow as hell- and when he didn't want it to go fast it was over within the blink of an eye?

He trudged into Mr. Hatake's English 11Cp class, not particularly worried about being late. Kakashi Hatake rarely showed up for class let alone a simple study-hall in which he was literally needed as nothing more than a figure of authority. His thoughts of seeing an empty desk were only confirmed as he stepped into the wild classroom, filled with countless people chattering away.

"Dei." Deidara lifted his headed as suddenly as his name was called as he gingerly entered his third-period study-hall. He'd somehow expected it to be Sasori smiling at him like that.

But, no. It was Zetsu. Along with Itachi and Pein smiling like complete and utter morons.

"Blondie- come sit on my lap." There was a low purr as Pein shifted in his seat, his husky voice causing Deidara to shiver. Honestly, just because Pein liked announcing his sexuality to the school didn't mean Deidara liked it. Itachi seemed to get the hint, he leaned over and smacked the spiky haired man before fixing the sunglasses he'd been wearing.

Itachi was the only human being alive who wore sunglasses... Twenty-four-seven.

And Zetsu. The only guy in the entire school who had green hair... He was followed closely behind in the weirdness scale by Kisame who had a patch of blue hair.

Deidara smiled meekly at the thought of his friends. Though they were loud, and outspoken... And quite fucked up in the noggin. They were extraordinary people, with extraordinarily large hearts. He wouldn't have wished for them to change- and he couldn't have possibly wished for better friends.

He glanced around the room one last time- frowning when he didn't see that patch of red-hair he'd been expected to see. Hadn't Sasori said he was in this class? Deidara vaguely remembered seeing Sasori there...

But...

"So who's the ginger?" Zetsu asked crossing his arms. "Some red-head asked us to say hello to you for him."

"He was cute, he left like two minutes ago." Pein murmured. "A little too manly for my taste." He sighed. "I prefer the women type- no boobs with dicks slapped on them for convenience sake." Pein smiled. "Like you."

There was a sigh of exasperation from Deidara's part as he crossed his arms and sat down in the chair that had been pulled up with him in mind. "Where did he go? Yeah." Deidara asked softly.

"How should I know? I don't keep track of every piece of ass in this school. Even if they do have asses as nice as him. Nice choice Dei." Pein stretched in his chair a bit. Deidara simply curled his nose and groaned pressing a hand to his aching stomach. It was a proven fact that days after his excercise spouts his body hurt... Like hell. He remained quiet after that, simply leaning his head against Itachi's shoulder and surrendering to the daydreams that had been threatening to take ahold of him. He was a bit disappointed to have missed Sasori- but there was always summing up the courage to meet up with him after school.

"Dei. You alright?" Suddenly two hands had grabbed either one of his shoulders and pressed him backwards so he was securely seated. He'd only now realized that he'd been about to fall forwards out of his chair and Itachi had caught him- sensing the rocking movement of his little blonde companion.

"Y-yeah. Un." He murmured softly, slowly allowing himself to look up at his friends- who had all grown silent. Even Pein, who could have under any condition had a soft look on his face.

"Dei. You need to eat. You aren't going to make it through today if you don't." Zetsu sighed slowly holding out a small granola bar.

"No." the answer had come out of Deidara's mouth a little too fast for comfort, he regretted the animosity and closed his eyes, trying for a more gentle approach. "I'm tired. Tobi kept me up all night." Though it was only half a lie- Deidara did truly feel tired.

"Bullshit." Was the only reply he was given as the granola bar was thrown onto Deidara's lap.

Perhaps if Deidara had actually eaten the granola bar, things might have gone a little different that day- perhaps fate wouldn't have taken the twist that it did.

But Deidara didn't.

And fate did take its twist.

"Deidara..."

Deidara lifted his head and frowned as his name was called by their gym teacher. He'd currently been occupying a near-bye bench. Coach Gai was more than likely upset over the fact that Deidara hadn't changed into his gym clothes like the rest of the students- in all honesty the blonde felt extremely uncomfortable with taking his clothes off in front of other people. He would have much rather failed Physical Education than go through something as traumatizing as being stared at.

Or made fun of.

"Yes, sir?" Deidara chirped softly, his visible eye set cautiously on the darker orbs that belonged to Coach Gai.

"You haven't participated all year. The physical fitness examination is required by all students- if you don't start perking up soon I'm going to make you repeat this class next year. Now, go get changed- and we can begin."

"But sir-" Deidara began softly, before the stifling glare that he was given forced him to retaliate. "Yes, coach Gai, un." He murmured softly flinching as Kisame draped an arm around his shoulders.

"Hah, never thought I'd see the day when blondie actually participated in gym class." The blue haired boy smirk ruffling Deidara's hair, leading him into the locker room.

Deidara had never been so frightened in his entire life. During physicals not only did they test your BMI, but they also made you stand on a scale. If Deidara's weight was anywhere below fifteen percent under-weight they would tell Hidan. And Hidan would worry... And Deidara didn't want Hidan to worry.

The blonde simply muttered a tiny "Yeah." to his friend before over and unlocked his locker. He grabbed his gym bag and gathered up his clothes before he ran towards an empty bathroom stall, ignoring the tiny snickers coming from Kisame. He locked the door behind him and sat down on the toilet, setting a shaky hand over his mouth he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to think. How could he make himself heavier? Just a temporary heavy... Just enough to trick the scale... He quickly changed out of his clothes and slid his T-shirt and basketball shorts on. They were a bit loose... But his pants falling down was certainly the least of his worries.

His mind reeled with ideas before the idea of drinking as much water as he possibly could entered his mind. Water would make him heavier and then he would just urinate it all out and weigh less again.

It was perfect.

He dug around in his small gym bag- he'd packed a simple water bottle inside of it long ago- but never really expected to use it seeing as he had no intention of participating in any of the events.

Hearing the people begin to shuffle out of the locker room Deidara acted quickly by pressing the bottle to his lips before he downed the entire thing. Still not convinced that one bottle was enough to fill him up he dove out of the bathroom and slid the bottle under the sink- filling it up quickly he forced himself to drink it.

Already he felt like he was about to be sick- but he knew his secret wouldn't be safe if he didn't drink more water.

Everyone had already left the locker room, but Coach Gai would give him a little leniancy in changing seeing as he'd gone in a little later than everyone else.

He stuck his face under the faucet and began drinking as much water as possible- moaning softly when he knew he needed to leave. He knew he probably hadn't gained more than a pound or two so he dug around in his school back for something he could stuff in his shoes. He took the large lock to his locker and tossed it from hand to hand- it was pretty heavy and if he was lucky it weighed a pound or two...

Ignoring how uncomfortable it felt Deidara set the lock inside his shoe and tried to squeeze his foot inside. He then picked up his cell-phone and shoved that inside of his other shoe. Though he more than likely hadn't gained over six pounds from all this effort... He still hoped that the clothes on his back and the water in his stomach would be enough.

The lanky boy then timidly stepped out of the locker room and made his way over to the line where they were expected to wait in to be weighed.

A good ten minutes later- and Deidara had to pee. Like hell. But the kid in front of him had finally finished with his exam- and Deidara would be able to scurry off to the bathroom.

Deidara sighed as it was finally his turn to step on the scale. Coach Gai looked rather smug with the fact that he'd finally managed to get Deidara up there. "Glad to see you've finally joined us. The health of a strong and youthful teenager is very important to me! And I wouldn't want to jepardize the health of YOUR youth by making you repeat this class." Deidara blushed when the man decided to reel on and on about Deidara's youth- simply happy that mostly everyone aside from Kisame was ignoring him.

"Yeah." Deidara simply murmured softly as he stepped up onto the scale. He swayed a bit, cursing his luck when he began having a dizzy-spell and the corners of his vision threatened to completely blacken. The task at hand was far too important however and Deidara knew there was no way in hell he was going to allow himself to faint.

As silence teetered through the gymnasium he leaned forward a bit- trying to concentrate as much weight as possible anything to make himself seem less conspicuous.

Anything to keep the game going.

He inhaled sharply when there was a tiny 'beep' and the scale spat out his weight.

"112."

There was a long silence before Gai scribbled something down.

"Deidara. How tall are you?" He asked a little more quietly, though it was certainly a question that hadn't been asked to everyone else. With his mind reeling- Deidara decided to lie.

Though he was really around 5'7 he simply sighed. "I'm 5'6" He murmured softly, eyes shifting up to meet the skeptical ones of their coach before he smiled patting Deidara on the head. "A bit low- but not entirely alarming."

Deidara offered him a weak smile, his head still swimming and a weird light-headedness made him feel like he was under water. "Yeah." He murmured softly. He wanted to go sit down... Or something.

"Alright, you're free to go."

Deidara smiled- his eyes rounding to compliment the handsome little curve of his lip. It was a convincing smile- and it was a smile that might have saved Deidara's little charade.

It might have.

If he hadn't suddenly pitched backwards in a dead-on faint.