"Do we really have to do this?" Shisui whined as he scrubbed at a dark spot on the side of the oven.
"Yes," I said with a huff, scraping at the gum on the kitchen floor with a knife. "Yes, we do have to do this."
"But we could just hire a-"
"No."
Shisui sighed, "You really suck, you know."
"I know. And you know what else I know? The fact that you're not allowed to eat gum in this apartment anymore."
"How do you even know that's mine?"
"Because."
"Because what?"
"Because because," I said childishly.
Shisui rolled his eyes as if I were the stupidest person to ever be in his presence, "I can't believe I live in the same zip code as you."
"I can't believe you live in the same planet as me," I retorted, picking up the pieces of gum and throwing it into the trash can. Hefting myself up to my feet, I admire our handiwork. "See, isn't the kitchen all pretty?"
"At the cost of my back," he complained, "now I'm all sore."
"Grandma," I muttered under my breath.
"I heard that," he grumbled as I wrapped an arm around his neck and pecked his cheek.
"But really," I said with a smile, "when was the last time you actually did something useful?"
"I restocked the ice cream yesterday I don't know why I was coerced into doing this."
"Oh, quit your whining," I shoved his shoulder. "You're already doing it and you're almost done."
"I hate you," he muttered.
"I love you too, you little shit," I said, then quickly escaped the kitchen before he decided to hurl some soap water at me.
He was right though, at the cost of the entire house being all clean and pretty, my back was killing me.
Thankfully, the only thing left was our room and I had cleaned most of it the day before.
All that was left was the scrubbing of the floor and any other surface that needed cleaning and since I knew Shisui was gonna take a 'little' break that somehow got him lost in the living room and somehow got him to watch a marathon of The Simpsons, I decided to start on my own.
The bed was already made, the mirrors and any glass surfaces were sparkling, so I went back down and got a broom and this time Shisui actually did hurl soap water at me.
"You're not getting sex for a week!" I hissed at him as I retreated from the kitchen like a vampire from sunlight, the front of my shirt was completely soaked, I still have no idea how he could even fit that much water in his hands.
Asshole was laughing at me so hard he had tears going down his cheeks, "Whatever you say, Ari."
I glowered at him and willed his head to spontaneously combust. But I'm me, so most things just don't go my way, it's a tragic truth, but a truth all the same.
And after trying to burn a hole in his head for ten minutes, I just gave up and went back upstairs, all the while muttering obscenities at him under my breath. I continued to mutter obscenities at him while I swept the floor and only stopped when I found a box under the bed.
I pulled it out from under the bed, brows furrowed into a straight line when I saw a note taped onto the lid.
DO NOT OPEN.
Clearly my own handwriting, I wiped my hand across the surface and immediately started to sneeze and cough from the amount of dust that was on it.
That shit was old, but I was going to open it anyway because curiosity would have killed me if I didn't. So I got around to pulling the tape off the box so I could.
I half expected to find a portal to an alternate universe, or some key words to summon my demon or guardian angel so I could dump a bucket of shit on Shisui without having him trying to hug me or run around the house staining everything.
Finally I pulled off the last strip of tape from the lid that kept it shut all these years.
I pulled off the lid, there was not a single particle of dust inside, everything was just as...
Just as I put it in four years ago, when I first got my heart broken, when I first cried so hard I couldn't breathe, when I first begged whoever was listening to bring him back to me, and of course, when he never came back.
Still, a small smile bloomed on my face as I picked up a picture of Sasuke and I, he was completely drunk and planted a big fat sloppy kiss on my cheek and he was grinning from ear to ear while he was doing it, I was laughing so hard. This would be the first and only time Sasuke ever got drunk, and we were celebrating the end of high school. Naruto was the one who snapped the picture, I think.
I set it down beside me, and picked up the panda that was taking up most of the space and cramping everything else. Sasuke won me this panda at the annual Konoha festival. He had managed to keep it behind his back without me seeing it even though I still remember the amount of times I tried to look behind his back. To his credit, he had kept me busy until midnight, when the fireworks started going off and he had given it to me and our first kiss happened right there, on the cliff overlooking the city, and I was fifteen, and he tasted like coffee and the cotton candy I shoved down his throat when I couldn't finish it myself and I didn't want to throw it away.
The next is a pressed flower crown of blue brunneras and red roses in a ziploc bag.
And in that second, I saw Hikari and Sasuke.
I saw them there in the little garden behind his house that they had been to so many times, I saw the flower crown on her head and the one she was weaving for him despite his countless protests, the one he wore despite his countless protests, I saw him tickling her sides until she couldn't breathe anymore and I saw the smile that she would wear for days afterwards whenever she remembered it. I saw the way he smiled at her and I saw the way she giggled when Naruto would say that he looked like a lovestruck puppy and that he'd vehemently deny any recollection of it happening whenever she'd tease him about it. I saw Sasuke, and the first time he told her he loved her, I saw the way she let out a squeak as she turned to look at him and the way she laughed while repeating it back to him, I saw Hikari and the happiest day of her life, I saw Hikari and the way she giggled, years afterwards, as she remembered that day.
It was a sweet memory, making me smile so hard my face damn near broke, and in that second, I realized something important.
It's okay to have nice memories with someone who has moved on. It's okay to love certain memories even though the person you made them with is either no longer around or no longer in the picture the way they were when you made them. Sometimes memories are all we have, and sometimes that's enough.
I put the panda back in the box, and the picture, and the flower crown. I got to my feet and picked up the box.
Shisui, as predicted, was watching the Simpsons, eating ice cream out of the tub. He raised a brow when he saw me with the box on my hip, "What's that?"
"A box full of some stuff," I said with a shrug, pulling open the front door.
"Oh, by the way," he craned his neck to see me, "Can you get the mail, too? It should have come by now."
"Sure."
I dumped the box into the trash chute and made my way down to the lobby and took out the mail. I rifled through it as I got into the elevator again. Most of it was the bills, some coupons and shit, and one pink letter decorated with cherry blossoms. I rolled my eyes at how primeval Sakura is, she always sends letters instead of calling. For all she knew, I don't check my inbox for weeks, hell, maybe even years, her faith is touching, though.
Still I open it, and as I read through it, a grin breaks out across my face and another important thing occurs to me.
hiakri o my god listn listen ok saske just prposed holy fuck help me pliz call me as soon as u can we ned to talk cn u be my maid of honor i luv u
Sometimes we have to get rid of the old to begin again with the new.
`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`
In honor of Alba, who put the idea that Shisui and Hikari should be together and since then it has not stopped nagging me until I came up with this.