Everybody remembers Sassy's promise from the last chapter, right? :3


Chapter 3

When Sasori and Deidara return home on Sunday evening (if 10.30 PM can be called evening), they find two angry parents waiting for them in the living room. Seeing them, both teens stop in the corridor. As Deidara's eyes momentarily meet his father's, something shrinks inside of him and he tries to hide behind the redhead, even though he knows it to be pointless. He isn't going to get out of this one so easily.

Sasori takes Deidara's hand behind his back to encourage him and they both step into the living room; Deidara's face is next to green, as though he is going to throw up any moment.

Mr. Akasuna seems to be completely enraged, so much that even sitting still is done with great effort. His fuming gaze could burn villages to the ground with one glance. His wife, however, seems more anxious than anything, and even slightly relieved when seeing that both of her sons are okay. She pats her husband's knee, trying to calm him down also.

What Mr. Akasuna has to say to the boys is nothing pretty. He even goes so far that his wife gasps and raises her voice, telling him to keep it rational. "They're young, darling, why can't you understand?" she says strongly, her eyes drilling into the man, "They could've done a lot worse! All teens drink, but we should be glad they aren't engaged in anything dangerous like gangs and drugs! They don't even smoke!"

Mrs. Akasuna's soothing words should relieve at least part of Deidara's grief, but instead, they keep stirring it up. If his father needs this much deprecation from his wife just to stop yelling, Deidara does not wish to know what lies beneath that cold, always solemn face of his.

Unfortunately, he will soon enough, and there is nothing he can do to prevent it. Deidara wishes he could die right now and just disappear into the thin air.

Mr. Akasuna dismisses the kids and tells them to go to their rooms. Sasori and Deidara do; the blond is visibly shivering as he climbs up the stairs and disappears into his room without a word to Sasori. He doesn't want the other to see his fear and just wishes for it all to be over as soon as possible.

He climbs to his bed and squishes himself into the corner of the room as hard as possible, as though it is possible for him to turn invisible that way.

It isn't long until he hears slow, even footsteps coming up the stairs. The door of his room opens and Mr. Akasuna steps in.

-x-

Meanwhile, Sasori is lying on his bed, lost in thought and scrolling on his phone, reading the recently posted tweets. The walls of the house are thick and thus he doesn't hear any of what goes down in Deidara's room down the hallway. He only wonders at some point what is taking Deidara so long. Has he fallen asleep already? He has a habit of coming to his room for the night.

Only around half past midnight does Sasori find out that the blond has not fallen asleep. His door creaks open and a slim figure stumbles in, his face entirely hidden behind the fringe. He pushes himself against the door to shut it tight and then crosses the room at a hasty pace to the bed standing by the window on the other side.

Sasori greets him with arms wide open. "Why aren't you asleep yet?" he asks as he pulls the other into a tight hug, "I thought you were. We've got school in the morning."

Deidara climbs onto the bed and, in the dark since Sasori turned off the lights already before his arrival, presses his lips against Sasori's. The redhead catches his cheek in his hand and feels the wet tears on the skin that are yet to dry off.

What's wrong? he wants to ask, but isn't given the chance by the blond, who has hooked his one hand in the redhead's shirt, the other draped around his neck. Sasori barely tries resisting, before giving in and going with the flow.

He kisses back hungrily, holding the other like there is no tomorrow, and sinks back on the bed, so that he isn't sitting up anymore, but is on his back. He claws at Deidara's shirt, already ready to tear it off when Deidara abruptly breaks the kiss and, emitting a low whine, buries his face in the crook of Sasori's neck.

The redhead, leaving Deidara's shirt alone, turns his head, eyeing the other in the darkness. "What's wrong, babe?" he mutters lazily, lips playing on the blond's hair and then on his neck. Deidara turns his head slowly, his light, glowing eyes meeting Sasori's.

Sasori catches on quickly. So the blond wants to keep his clothes on for the night. "I can still kiss you, right?" he asks and, as a response, Deidara lifts his head a little to connect their lips again. Sasori returns the kiss, his hand sliding up the blond's back and bringing the shirt up a notch, but doesn't attempt pulling it off anymore.

They roll around on the bed for a while, until Deidara's motions grow a lot lazier and his eyelids that fall shut every time their lips meet, tend to stay shut. Sasori releases the blond and zips his jeans open, removing them and discarding them on the floor. If there's something he can't sleep in, it's jeans. Since Deidara doesn't seem to have a problem with the clothes he's currently in, Sasori pulls the quilt over them.

Wrapped in each other's arms, the two doze off.

-x-

Deidara is the one to drive them to school next morning, since Sasori usually needs his morning coffee before he is awake enough to drive properly. They both sling their bags over their shoulders and make their way inside, where they instantly meet up with their group of friends.

The clique is used to Deidara always staying silent and by Sasori's side, whilst the redhead both holds him close and socializes with everyone else. In class, the two stepbrothers take their usual seats at the back of the classroom. Even though many teachers find Deidara leaning against the redhead most of the time and Sasori being a bit too affectionate with him inappropriate in class, no one ever says anything. It may or may not have something to do with the fact that Mrs. Akasuna is one of the school's main funders.

Since there's a kind of silent agreement amongst the school staff that the two step-siblings must be treated well, their tests are usually graded with an A or B, regardless of the amounts of mistakes they make. The teachers rarely even bother paying attention to them, knowing full well that they're required to pass the tests, even if they don't learn anything.

The only exception might be their art teacher. She, Ms. Yano, is a strict young woman with long, dark hair that always has the I-make-the-rules kind of expression. The few Cs on Deidara's essays on history of art and that one D Sasori got on the project he made overnight are here to prove Ms. Yano's resistance to the principle other teachers follow so flawlessly. It is not because she doesn't wish the best for the two boys, quite the opposite – she, unlike anyone else at that school, wishes the most for Sasori and Deidara to be educated fairly and for them to be able to grasp the deeper meaning of art.

It is ironic that the subject Sasori and Deidara are the best in, is the one they get the lowest grades in. It is only because of the numbered failure essays, though. Their paintings always make it to the school gallery, at which exhibitions are held every month.

When the art class ends today, Deidara gets left behind by the crowd, since he takes packing up all his stuff slow and by the time he finishes, pushing his chair under the table, everyone apart from the teacher has already left the classroom. Ms. Yano is quite pleased with this. As Deidara passes her, she calls his name and asks if she could have a word with him. Deidara nods and wordlessly takes a seat on the edge of a nearby desk.

"You see, Deidara," she starts in a rather serious tone as the blond teen listens quietly, eyes on her, "even though it's meant to be a secret, I'm sure you've realized this a long time ago – you'd have to be blind and deaf not to – that most teachers let you off quite easy, despite some of your doings." There is a double meaning to the last word and Ms. Yano is sure it doesn't go unnoticed by Deidara.

"I, however," she continues, "refuse to play along in that game. Be your parents whoever they might be, it doesn't mean you should be treated any differently than the rest of the students, especially if it inhibits your education." She pauses and locks her eyes on her student's. "I admit that your doings outside of school are hardly my business, but I would like to ask you to keep that display of affection outside of the classroom."

Deidara averts his eyes to the floor. He nods slowly in acknowledgement.

"That being said," Ms. Yano rubs her forehead in a slightly frustrated motion, "I am actually very worried about you, Deidara." She eyes the blond again, her eyes dead serious this time. "You don't behave at all like you used to. I've known you since the fourth grade and this is not you."

For a moment, Ms. Yano isn't sure how to continue. She knows what she wants to say and wishes Deidara would add his own commentaries, but the boy remains silent. Ms. Yano lets out a stressed sigh. "I don't know what has changed. Is it Sasori? You two seem very close, to put it lightly, but since I don't know anything about what goes on outside of school-" she cuts herself off, knowing her sentence is headed in the wrong direction.

She gives herself a moment, then starts again, "What I mean is, I think you should talk to a therapist, Deidara. This isn't normal and something needs to be done. I haven't talked to your parents and don't know what they think of it, but you look so – lifeless. You should see yourself through someone else's eyes. You're like a living dead."

Ms. Yano cocks her head to the side, eyes clouded with sincere worry. She tries to catch Deidara's gaze, but to no avail. The boy doesn't look up from the ground.

"You used to make such wonderful paintings, Deidara. But it's like all your muse has died. You have tons of uncompleted work, unfinished paintings that you've left here in class without bothering to finish them. I don't know, Deidara. This isn't you," she says again. "What's going on?"

Deidara slowly raises his head. He doesn't know what to say, but he wants to say something. He knows his teacher is genuinely worried about him and he doesn't want her to. There is no need. He wants to relieve her of her worries; tell her everything is okay and make it sound believable. Because, in reality – is there anything wrong? No, there isn't. Deidara just doesn't feel like doing anything and that's completely fine. He wants to tell her all that.

But the moment he starts to open his mouth to say anything, there is an abrupt knock on the door and it is cracked open. A redheaded boy pokes his head in and glances at the teacher and her student. His eyes stay on the latter.

"Deidara?" Sasori says, "What're you doing here? We have P.E."

"I'm sorry, Sasori," Ms. Yano puts in harshly, irritated with the redhead for ignoring her like that, "I was having a word with Deidara. If you don't mind waiting outside for a moment or two, we'll be finished soon-"

Sasori only half-heartedly pays attention to his teacher. Instead, his eyes, after sparing a brief glance at the woman, dart back to the blond and meet his gaze. "Deidara?"

Deidara stands up and straightens up in a swift movement. "I'm sorry, Miss, I have to go," he says and walks to the door. "Have a nice day," he manages to say, before Sasori pulls him out of the classroom and shuts the door behind them.

A pair of lips press against the blond's hair and he closes his eyes for a moment. Sasori's hand is looped around him as they head down the hallway to gym.

"What did she want?" Sasori asks; his hand has slipped down the blond's back into his back pocket.

"Nothing," Deidara replies.

Sasori doesn't pry. He makes a mental note to keep an eye on the teacher from now on, though.

The two enter the locker room. It is empty, since everyone else is in the gym already. Sasori changed his clothes before coming to get the blond, so he is left sitting on the bench, watching the other male change into his gym clothes. Deidara can all but physically feel Sasori's eyes on him as he strips off his jeans. Regardless, he remains to have his back on the other until he's completely clothed again. Then he turns around.

He takes his phone and earphones with him, before following the redhead to the gym. Deidara takes his usual spot on the bench. Unlike Ms. Yano, the coach couldn't care less about Deidara's participation in class, as long as he is getting paid his monthly salary. The blond is more than eager to take advantage of that.

Sasori, however, since he enjoys sports, is planning on joining in on playing basketball with the others. Though not before wrapping his arms around Deidara's hips and locking lips with him for so long that Pein – from their clique – has to literally tear Sasori away, so they could play.

Deidara sits down on the bench and puts the earphones on, his eyes, after finding the song he wants, finding Sasori and staying on him throughout the game. Sasori plays well. His passes are quick and precise, he rarely misses - but that's hardly what Deidara is paying attention to. It's when they start playing shirts VS skins – and Sasori is on the skins team – that the game actually gets exciting for Deidara.

Sasori comes to drop off his shirt on the bench and the look he gives the blond says more than a hundred words. He returns to the court smiling; even though Deidara wasn't aware of expressing any of his thoughts, Sasori knows him well enough to read everything he wanted from the look in his eyes.

Two kinds of games follow – one of them is the one they play on the court with a ball, the other is the one Deidara and Sasori play, exchanging looks. The moment Deidara briefly catches the redhead's gaze, he runs his tongue across his lips and sees Sasori smirk as he has to turn his head away. The next time their eyes meet it is Sasori's turn to reply. And so it goes on…

At last, the coach's whistle ends the game – both of them – with Sasori's team winning 14 – 8. He comes to retrieve his shirt from the bench and Deidara gets up, taking off the earphones. The coach leaves the gym without a word and the group of boys reduce to laughter and chatter. A few put the balls away, others grab their water bottles for a refreshing drink. The coach takes off.

Sai is the one who says first, "Well, I'm off now. See you around."

As he walks to the door, his way is blocked by Sasori materializing right in front of him out of the blue. Taken aback, Sai comes to a sudden stop, taking a step back. He recovers quickly, though, and gives Sasori a smile. "What is it?"

Sasori takes a step forward, forcing Sai to step back, and so on for quite a few paces. Sasori gives a smile as well. "Oh, there was just this one thing…" he starts, his tone sounding off in Sai's opinion.

"Yeah?" Sai asks, deeming the situation weird. Why is he backing down? He comes to a sudden halt and Sasori stops in front of him as well.

"The party at my place this weekend," Sasori says and Sai glances around slightly nervously already when feeling two hands clamp down on his shoulders. They are Itachi and Pein's. "You went a little overboard…" Sasory says and trails off.

"What're you-?" Sai starts to ask as four strong hands take a hold of his arms, securing them harshly, and his legs are caught by the others' so that it is impossible for him to move and they are pushed apart, leaving him in an uncomfortable position. His words are cut off by Sasori.

"See, not everyone was quite pleased with it, and there is this one person who would like to have a word with you," Sasori explains and circles around the other, grabbing him by his hair and jerking his head so that it was facing straight forward. "Deidara…" Sasori says in a much sweeter tone of a voice as the blond walks up to the confined, dark-haired boy. "Your chance."

Deidara's eyes lock on Sai's; they're cold and harsh, which dismays the other a great deal. He's always seen the blond as shy and rather feeble – hell, he's never heard him talk to anyone but Sasori, and it surprises him to have the other express such anger directed at him on the other's face.

Dismay turns into fear when he realizes what the blond's eyes keep glancing at down there, and his face turns into a frantic grimace. "Oh, wait, what- no, no, no, Deidara-"

"Don't say my name," Deidara hisses and takes a quick step forwards; his knee moves up in a flash and Sai's loud moan fills the gym. But that's not enough for the blond. He clenches his fist and throws a punch against the boy's nose as hard as he possibly can. He retreats quickly and the three guys let go of Sai, letting him fall on the floor. The boy curls up and keeps moaning in pain; Deidara casts him an abhorrent look.

The boys head for the exit. Sasori wraps his arm around Deidara and pulls him along. "You can be quite scary, babe," he mutters in his ear and chuckles, his breath tickling the other. "Hot."


To be continued...