"Now if you'll turn to page 189, we'll pick up at the 3/5 Compromise…"

It was taking every ounce of Hidan's willpower not to put his head down on the desk and sleep through the rest of history class. The Jashinist had been back in school for nearly a week now, and so far his behavior had been akin to that of a model student. He'd done all the homework and readings for his courses, been on time every day, and had only glared at the other students instead of threatening them. The teachers and students alike were still giving him a wide berth, however; it'd take a while before they would treat him normally, and much longer before he could make any friends.

The Jashinist was abruptly snapped out of his thoughts when a paper wad came flying through the air, bouncing off his arm to settle in the middle of his desk. Hidan looked around, trying to find the culprit, and eventually made eye contact with a nearby blond, who was probably the most androgynous creature Hidan had ever laid eyes on. Long hair held in a ponytail, a thin layer of eye liner over each eye, and a waistline that would've made most girls turn green with envy. On the other hand, the lack of boobs and a fairly obvious adam's apple made the blond's gender quite clear. Hidan was also fairly certain that this person was in his math class and possibly English class as well, but couldn't be sure. Noticing that he'd gotten Hidan's attention, the teen motioned to the paper wad several times, clearly wanting Hidan to open it. Deciding to indulge the blond's request and fully prepared for a bout of freshly written insults, Hidan opened the note. "Hey, you're Hidan, right?" it read.

The zealot raised a brow. That was probably the nicest sentence he'd heard since coming back, sadly enough. "Well the dumbass did want me to make friends…" Quickly Hidan scribbled a reply back, and tossed it to the blond. "Yeah. Who're you?"

A quick skim over the note, a hasty reply, and it was back on Hidan's desk. "Name's Deidara. So it seems like you've got a pretty bad rep around here."

"Happens when you beat up too many assholes and make a couple teachers cry."

Deidara didn't even bat an eye when he read the statement, and quickly answered. "Figured it was something like that. I just transferred in last semester; long story, involved a couple of firecrackers going off in a garage and several lost fingers."

Hidan, as Kakuzu had noted many times, was better than most at hiding his surprise at awkward situations and thinking fast, but this was enough to throw him off for a moment. This kid was like him? A screw-up and an outcast? He didn't seem vicious, despite such a violent reason behind his transfer, but Hidan knew better than to assume that Deidara was more lamb than lion until he knew a little more about him. "Is there a reason you're passing notes to me? I'm kind of under a tight watch right now, if you haven't noticed."

"I don't understand anything we're doing in here," Deidara's reply read. "No one wants to tutor me because of the firecracker thing, but you're different. Mind helping a fellow delinquent out?"

"Mr. Neco, is that a note?!" Hidan's stomach plummeted to somewhere in his shoes as panic to over. Shit, how was he going to explain this to Kakuzu?

"Why yes it is, un," a smooth voice answered from behind him.

Hidan turned to see that it was Deidara who had spoken, moreover, he'd done so with a small smile on his face. Bastard! "And I'm the one that passed it to him." Huh?

"Would you mind telling the class what was so important that it couldn't wait until after my lecture?" the teacher demanded, attention temporarily refocused on Deidara.

"Sure, un. This actually concerns you anyway," Deidara continued, grin still on his face. "I was just asking Hidan what the best way to ask you out would be."

There was absolute silence in the room. Every conversation had ceased at the blond's declaration; even the AC unit had shut off, as though fearful of missing whatever was to come now. Finally, the teacher was able to pick his jaw up off the floor long enough to choke out an, "Excuse me?!"

"You see sir, I'm terribly attracted to you, but not good at letting it show, un," Deidara went on, as though he were only talking about the weather. "Do you prefer notes hidden under your coffee mug in the morning, or talking outside the school at your car, un?"

"That's enough, Mr. Iwa."

"What about dates, un? Dinner and a movie, or long walks in the park?"

"Mr. Iwa-"

"And what should I wear, un? Jeans might look nice, but I've heard I look pretty good in a mini skirt and heels, un."

If Hidan hadn't gone into shock about five minutes ago, he would have been laughing his ass off at this. It was like Deidara knew he was screwed no matter what, so he was going to have as much fun with this fiasco as possible while he could.

The teacher had finally had enough, and demanded the blond go to the principal's office. Beet red, he escorted Deidara out of the room, barked a command at the other students to continue reading, and slammed the door shut behind him.

As the other students began to whisper among themselves as to what had just occurred, giggling and imitating the blond's actions, Hidan slowly realized that in his haste to punish Deidara, the instructor had completely forgotten that the zealot had been passing notes. The blond had just saved his ass.

Looks like Hidan had made a friend.

-m-

Word soon traveled around the school about Deidara's exploits, and it didn't take much eavesdropping for Hidan to discover that the blond's antics had resulted in a week of detention (although there were more than a few rumors going around the Deidara had either been kicked out of the front door by Iruka personally, or that their teacher had reciprocated the feelings and eloped with Deidara before the school could stop them). As a sign of good will, Hidan waited outside the school for detention to let out, watching for the blond to get out so they could talk. Sure enough, he was able to spot Deidara when the teen emerged from the school, and immediately approached him. "Hey, Deidara."

The blond spun around at the sound of his name, clearly surprised to see Hidan here. "You know, the point in me taking a dive for note passing was so you didn't have to stay after school, un."

Hidan shrugged and fell into step beside the other male; it appeared they lived in roughly the same direction. "Just wanted to say thanks, dumbass. It was pretty fucking nice of you to do that, so thanks."

"Geez, you kiss your mom with that mouth, un?"

"Hell no. What's with the 'un' thing? Speech problem?"

"Kinda, yeah. So, you plan on following me all the way home, stalker?"

"Ass. I live down this way."

Deidara seemed to turn this information over in his head briefly before going on. "You never gave me an answer about tutoring, un."

"Huh? Oh yeah. Yeah, I don't mind helping you."

"Good, because you owe me big time for me bailing you out, un," the blond grinned.

"That was fucking hilarious, by the way."

"I took a drama class at my old school, un," Deidara shrugged. "Helps out for things like that, un." The duo continued walking in silence for a time, before Deidara stopped at a street corner. "My apartment's down this way," he explained, motioning to the left.

"I'm a few blocks ahead," Hidan replied.

"Hey, do you mind if I come over for a bit, un? My folks aren't gonna be home until late, and I wasn't lying, I really suck at advanced history. And calculus. Maybe English too, un."

"You're gonna milk this for all you can, aren't you?"

"Yup."

"Bastard."

"I'll take that as a yes, un."

"Fine, just don't freak out about my dumbass of a roommate." Hidan wondered briefly if he should call ahead to let Kakuzu know that company was coming over, but decided to let it go. They were less than two blocks away now, so the banker wouldn't get much warning even if he called, and besides, Kakuzu probably would let his irritation at an uninvited guest be pushed aside in favor of happiness that Hidan had finally made a friend. At least, Hidan hoped so.

-m-

Deidara's introduction could have gone better, to say the least. As soon as Hidan entered the apartment, Kakuzu appeared out of nowhere and glared down at the younger man. Hidan hadn't bothered to inform the miser that he'd be staying after school, and Kakuzu had spent the past hour wondering/worrying if something had happened to Hidan during or after school. Now that the zealot was home safe and sound, all that worry quickly reshaped itself into anger, and he was fully prepared to chew Hidan out for making him fret so much. "Where the hell have you been?" he demanded.

"At school, and no, I didn't get in trouble, so calm the fuck down, dumbass," Hidan answered.

"What the hell were-"

"HOLY CRAP, UN!"

Both males turned around to see a visibly shocked Deidara standing in the apartment doorway, just as the blond's feet propelled him backwards into the door, which connected with his skull and caused him to slip down to the floor with a slight whimper. "Ow."

"That's why I was late," Hidan explained, motioning to the blond. "I was waiting for a friend to get out. You know, friends? The things you get when you don't breathe fire and fucking brimstone down people's necks when they're a Jashin-damned hour late to get home?"

"Oh." Well now Kakuzu felt like a complete and total dumbass.

"Hey Deidara, you all right man?" Hidan asked, somewhat worried that the blond had managed to injure himself on their door.

"You could've warned me about him, un!" Deidara snapped, jabbing a finger towards Kakuzu. "He looks like one of those guys in the mob that gets paid to shake people down for money, un!"

"I can see why you two get along," Kakuzu dryly remarked.

"Dumbass. Look, it's a little late, but can he stay for dinner?"

"Normal people would have asked that before bringing the guest inside, Hidan," Kakuzu chastised, though it was done with little malice or venom. "Fine. Just behave, and make sure his parents know."

"Don't worry, the cops aren't gonna break down the Jashin-damned door looking for him," Hidan replied, although the sarcasm was somewhat diminished by the look of glee on his face. He'd made a friend and Kakuzu appeared to be ok with said friend staying over. Perfect. "Living room all right, Deidara?"

"Sure thing." The blond had regained his senses by now and was back on his feet, ready to follow Hidan into the next room.

As they left, Kakuzu returned to the kitchen, where he had been making dinner for himself and Hidan. Tonight would be pasta, so thankfully it would be easy to make another serving for their additional guest. The banker was somewhat concerned about this Deidara kid; Hidan hadn't explained what the blond was doing so late in the school, and that didn't sit well with him. On the other hand, his first impression of the kid was that he wasn't a bully or thug, but a normal enough teen who was possibly a bit of an idiot. They could talk more over dinner, and after that, he'd formulate a solid opinion on Deidara. After all, he and Hidan had met while the former was being robbed by the latter, and look where they were now. For the time being, he'd give Deidara the benefit of the doubt, and finish cooking dinner.