Sorry people for not writing for a rather long time! Revision, art, cleaning…
And they call this a HOLIDAY. Anyway, reviews would be exceedingly and magically fantastic ;) Enjoy!
Work woke me up the next day. I turned over groaning, and wishing that I'd gone to bed earlier after the date I'd been on the night before.
I felt my stomach knot.
Hell, I'd been on a date! An actual date!
I couldn't help but smile as I sat up, grabbing my phone off the floor next to me: The text was for an address not too far away; I could probably walk.
It was lucky, since my savings were starting to dry up. I needed cash, and quickly…
I closed my door, allowing my eyes to drift to the neighbouring home…..
And hazy thoughts of the night before began filling my head-
And when he kissed me—
Damn, I had to focus on something else! Jogging down the stairs, I tried to calm my nerves and think only about the job.
I pulled out a small map from my pocket (yeah, I did have one then; Hell, how was I supposed to know my way around instantly?). The building was 4 blocks away, so it would take around 20 minutes walking.
Down on the street streams of people bustled past me, going about their daily business; I felt detached from everything, since I was in no rush: that was one of the perks of being self-employed. I had no real targets to meet and no one to answer to but myself.
Well, myself and my bank account…
The huge block of flats loomed up ahead, though I was still quite a distance away: I huddled my face and nose deeper into my scarf, trying to shield them from the nippy morning air that seemed to be the only kind of weather I'd experienced in the area during my short stay.
After what felt like hours, I reached the doorway of the said building.
I couldn't help but hope that I'd somehow come to the wrong address: There was graffiti everywhere.
And I mean EVERYWHERE.
Not to mention that the smell of piss was so strong that I had to fight the urge of putting a protective hand over my nose...
Come on Sasori, I thought to myself, a job is a job!
Gritting my teeth, I stepped inside, immediately taking the stairs after finding some rather repulsive, foul-smelling liquid on the floor of the escalator.
The flights of dull concrete stairs finally evened off onto the second level ; a long, lonely corridor, which was lined with dull grey doors; hell, it felt more like a prison than a block of flats!
Number 26 eventually appeared as I walked slowly down the deserted hallway, it's drab door only marginally better than the others.
I knocked three times.
Unlike my first experience with Deidara, the door was opened almost immediately by...
...Kakuzu?!
He stared at me for a couple of seconds with his strange emerald eyes, then a smile crossed over his face and he hugged me. I stood in shock for a moment at his odd affection; when had he ever felt inclined to hug people? This was probably the first hug I'd had from him in all the time I'd been friends with him!
"It's been a while, Sasori!" He murmured, his deep voice reverberating down the hall in a rather eerie manner.
I greeted him with a glare, but he was so used to it that it didn't faze him in the slightest. He ushered me in a slammed the door with ridiculous force.
I stopped in my tracks.
Was I still in the same scary, hideous block of flats? Because the view that met my eyes seemed to be alien in comparison:
Old rugs, scarves and sheets hung from the walls, in all different colours and sizes. It gave a kind of relaxed, hippie feel to the place. Not to mention the array of odd objects that also helped create this impression; there were books, china figures, plants- a whole mountain of unnecessary decorative features which had clearly been brought in and put down with no particular order whatsoever. The air was somewhat smoky, which was the only thing that didn't shock; I could picture Hidan here, smoking lazily on one of the odd beanie seats located randomly in the cosy space.
Kakuzu shook his head and sighed;
"And Hidan thinks this looks good?" Still muttering, he then led me to the toilet, where the problem became evident: The floor, or what was once the floor, was covered in murky water that was producing a fetid stench, which caught me completely by surprise.
I coughed and blinked quickly, holding down the remains of yesterday's meal...
My heart fluttered at the memory, but I quickly composed myself.
"What the hell did you do?" I asked, turning my attention again to the problem at hand.
Kakuzu shrugged helplessly;
"Hidan was drunk and decided the toilet was being offensive" He answered simply. I understood what he meant though; Hidan could be pretty volatile after excessive alcohol consumption...
"I examined the toilet thoroughly, holding my breath for as long as I possibly could, before nodding and replying, "It's not too serious, but it could take a while to mend"
Kakuzu said nothing, and left me to it.
After around twenty minutes, however, the peace was shattered by the door being swung open and Hidan's obnoxious voice calling out insults to no one in particular.
I continued to work, but listened in to what they were saying, vaguely curious about their relationship:
"What the hell have you been doing, idiot?" Came Kakuzu's accusing tone. He was still the mature one out of the three of us, though it had always been that way…
"Oh fuck off, bastard! I was taking care of some business!" came the exaggeratedly loud reply.
"Why don't you find yourself a job? That way you'd have less bloody business to take care of!"
"But you know I'm shit at working!"
"That's no excuse!"
"Ok, you fucking tight ass fucker, how's this then?"
I heard muffled cries from Kakuzu and some bangs, and I decided it was best not to picture exactly what the two were doing...
After a while, I heard Kakuzu's voice again, but this time he didn't sound as angry (which was just as well, since Kakuzu angry was worse than Hidan being angry...) :
"Sasori's mending the toilet"
"What the fuck?" came the offensive reply. I heard him get up and make his way towards the toilet, and suddenly his head appeared around the door.
Like Kakuzu, his face lit up and he greeted me warmly. Well, warmly in his own way, anyway.
"Hey you tomato bitch! What the fuck you doin' here man?"
"You were the one who texted me!" I snapped back.
" I had no fucking idea you were a bloody plumber, asshole!" He laughed, watching me work in the putrid air, which didn't seem to bother him at all.
"It's still a job" I argued, "Which is more than you have"
"Touché, dickhead" He sighed. He sat down and looked at me expectantly.
"What?" I asked finally.
"That chick next door then?" He whispered, grinning stupidly.
I still couldn't understand why he had hooked up with Kakuzu. It just seemed out of character; he was a the most notorious womanizer I'd ever met! Still, I wasn't one to question him…..
"Oh, we went on a date" I replied casually.
Oh fuck. What had I just said? Hidan's jaw dropped further than seemed possible.
"You? A fucking date? But your fuck awful at dates!"
I glared at him;
"Well it went well, bastard!" I replied as I furiously tightened a nut on the back of the toilet.
"It did? Fucking hell! I have to meet this crazy bitch!" He cried, slapping me on the back heartily.
Oh no. That could NOT happen. Under ANY circumstances!
"You're keeping away from him—her—you prick!" I stammered, quickly fixing my mistake.
He looked at me suspiciously. I gulped and faced away from him, pretending to be totally absorbed by the job.
"You tired or something?" He questioned, "I fucking swear you said 'him'..."
"I am tired, you dick" I huffed, my cheeks flushing a bright red.
"I was gonna fucking say! You, with a guy? Your parents would literally disown you!" He chuckled, oblivious to the panic that consumed me for a few moments.
Because he was right:
What would they do if they found out? I mean, I was old enough to care for myself, but not having my family's love or support at all? That would hurt, for sure...
I forced the thought out of my head and finished the job as quickly as possible, tidying up my tools and admiring what I'd accomplished. The floor was still dirty, but at least there was no more putrid water being added.
Kakuzu came to have a look and, seemingly satisfied, went to open one of the cupboards in the pokey little kitchen (which was far, far more orderly than the main living space- probably because Kakuzu came in more often, since he could cook. Hidan... well, Hidan was a disaster...).
He returned a few seconds later, dropping a large black box onto the kitchen table's polished surface.
When he opened it, I was unsurprised to see stack loads of money inside.
"It would be more practical in a bank account" I pointed out.
"Don't trust them" He replied. Again, this didn't surprise me; He'd always been completely and utterly obsessed with money.
He paid me the correct amount, and I made my own way out, clicking the door gently behind me.
I paused in the silent corridor.
I just couldn't stop the worried frustration I was feeling towards my own situation.
As I left the sorry estate, I went over it rationally in my head;
I am Sasori Akasuna, I told myself, I'm 26 years old; I am divorced, I live in a crap London apartment, on a crap estate. I have no siblings, my family is religious, I am a plumber, and I'm... I'm in love.
In love with my neighbour, Deidara.
I'm in love with a guy.
I stopped in my tracks, causing a passersby to look at me in confusion.
The reality of my situation was very simple.
I was in love with Deidara. It felt strangely uplifting to admit, but also oddly upsetting, merely because there was no way my parents would accept it.
But it wasn't like I was gay; I was only in love with one guy, and he looked like a woman anyway! It wasn't like I'd done it before.
I mentally slapped myself for thinking such things; what would Deidara say if he could hear my feelings? It wasn't like I wanted him to be a woman.
It didn't really matter to me, did it?
Was it because I was brought up thinking it was wrong?
Anyway, they didn't need to know. That was it! They'd never find out. Living alone had its perks, it was true…
I got home in the late afternoon, and opened the door to find mail on the doormat. Most of it was advertising, free catalogues, and….
My heart skipped a beat.
I could never mistake that neat, formal handwriting.
It was a letter from my mother.
I know I have an apology to make… I just lost my momentum and forgot where to go with the plot! I'm kind of making it up as I go along, but hey, I'll see how it goes!
Reviews would be rather brilliant