Blossoming Burnt Petals

By Ayesha Raees

Chapter seven
Talk

I think that it's strange

That we meet everyday

But don't interact

Seasons pass

And you are still as quiet as before

I was cold. I had put the bible at the side for sometime now. Now, I was just huddling to myself and trying to pass the time.

Two hours had gone since I had entered the church and he hadn't moved an inch. Now and then, I knew he glanced at me but without his Jesus with him, I knew I had no other reason to look at him.

I didn't hate him anymore after all.

There was silence except for the ever increasing thrashing from the outside.

It was almost six in the evening when Sasuke got up from his place. I thought he was going to head home despite the rain but he boldly walked over to me and sat down next to me.

My heart started to beat in full speed with nervousness. I peeked at him and he looked back at me quietly, with a hint of curiosity in his onyx eyes.

Though I was a little glad that he had dared to sit down with me; a little interaction wouldn't mean anything though. I was a little relieved when I felt the warmth radiating from him. At least I won't freeze to death now.

And then it was after a good fifteen minutes when he spoke to me.

"Since how long had you been coming here?"

His voice was heart melting. I felt my face go red as I looked at him in surprise. Was he trying to… talk?

"Ano…I…" I gulped a little," w-well… since I started school I-I guess,"

"High school?"

I closed my eyes, trying to remember. Since when I had started to come here anyway?

My mother used to come here when I was in kindergarten. I was always with her. Glued to her kimono like I was a part of her body. And then I started to come on my own after…

I felt a knot in my throat and I, again, gulped it down.

"No… since, kindergarten,"

"Oh,"

I looked up at him and I was glad to see that his face wasn't emotionless like before. Like always.

Then there was silence. This was almost amusing.

"It's ironic isn't it?" I heard my voice come from my lips as though it had a mind of its own.

He looked surprised too at my sudden non-stuttering calm voice. I looked at the statue.

"We both are horrible when it comes to socializing aren't we?"

That triggered a frown on his face.

"What makes you think I am not socializing?"

I smiled up to him shyly.

"What makes you think that you are?"

And then, something surprising happened.

He laughed. I stared up at him in shock. His voice, when placed in something as joyful as a laugh, seemed even more mesmerizing. Like a tinkle of bells… like the sparkle of glitter… like the humming of birds.

So beautiful.

I stared at him in awe.

When he settled down with the last chuckle, he smirked at me quite amused.

"My… I never knew a shy girl like you had such an amazing sense of humour,"

I felt my face go red in embarrassment. I bit my lip and looked away at once.

He chuckled again.

Was that a compliment or an insult? And what was so funny in what I had said. I searched for a hint of a joke in our so called conversation but didn't find any.

"What's so funny in what I said?" I asked impatiently.

He shrugged casually.

"It just was,"

"You don't laugh at Naruto-kun's jokes,"

Oh damn it.

He looked shocked when I said his name. He gave me a sharp look, his lips pursed. I looked away from him at once, trying to think of something else other than the bright sunshine that had suddenly occupied my mind. Even though Naruto, or more likely, Jesus was probably far away from me, I could still faintly hear his voice in my head. My face burned slightly.

His face became weary for some reason. My face turned into a tomato.

He looked away almost too abruptly and fixed his sudden blank eyes at the statue. He was putting a façade on his real self again.

"What's wrong?" I asked after a pause.

No answer. Silence.

"Ne… Uchiha-san… are you upset at something I said?" I whispered, trying not to let the emotions break my voice.

Still no answer. He was getting blanker and blanker second by second.

"NO!" I wanted to yell at him, "DON'T PUT A FAÇADE AGAIN! STOP IT!"

My voice was stuck, my blush was gone, and my eyes were glistening with unshed tears. He wasn't responding. He face was turning dead like it was a while ago, his eyes were getting hollow, the aura of gloominess started to appear again…

The thunder crashed outside and rain pattered on the sidewalks loudly. Little did anyone know it was also raining inside God's place. The black cloud had returned.

I burst into tears, covering my face into my hands.

What did I do? What did I say? What is wrong with me and my stupid mouth? Maybe he did not like Jesus at all… maybe… it was all for a show? Why? Why are my eyes betraying me?

"Oka-san,"

"Oye!" I felt his strong hands on my shoulder; he shook me slightly, "What's wrong? Why are you crying? Are you sick?"

I peeked at him through my hands, blinking rapidly to clear my sight from the many tears sprouting from my eyes, and was relieved to see his face back to normal. Good normal.

I wiped my tears slowly but didn't dare to face him. Instead I buried my face in my lap.

"I-I-I am s-s-sor-rry U-U-chi-h-ha-s-san," I stuttered out weakly.

It took him a minute to understand what I had said through from my stuttering.

"What are you apologizing for?"

For being stupid, for being a horrible person to shatter the hope that you got from God and his Jesus, for reminding you of what you had suffered in the past, for closing the light filled gap in those black clouds…

I wanted to say but my words betrayed me. I looked up at him, trying to say what I had just thought, but my voice came in an apologetic stutter.

"F-for k-k-illing you ju-ust now,"

My heart clenched at the very idea.

Shock and confusion showed in his onyx black eyes as he stared at my face, his mouth a little agape, lost for words.

There was a long silence as I rubbed my face clean from my sleeve, resulting in a stinging feeling in my eyes.

After some time, I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes and saw him, expressionlessly, staring at the statue.

I was a little relieved when I saw something stir in his eyes. I concentrated my eyes on my lap, as the storm roared outside. It didn't have to take long to see the motion of thoughts stirring in the depths of his eyes. Relief flooded through my body at his recovery.

As the time passed by and the silence continued, I lost all hope for a reply.


You guys must be thinking: "Isn't Sasuke being too... OCCed? I mean... HE JUST STARTED A CONVERSATION WITH HINATA!!!???" But let me assure you people, you will find out the truth in the coming chapters so don't get yourself worked up about it!! XD

School's being too rough and I made two trips to the market to get BRISINGR for my Brother's birthday. So I had hardly any time to do my homework. Have been doing it in the morning to school in my bus... strangely it worked out pretty well. O.o

Hope you enjoy and review! ^^ And thanks for reviewing before! :)