So this chap may or may not suck... Idk.
My predictions is that my weekend will contain way too much homework and way too little, so this is to start off good, at least:
Chapter 11
Pein had a bad feeling when entering the auditorium. That feeling worsened, when he reached the stage and realized Konan was nowhere in sight. Only Karin was present, tapping her fingers impatiently against the piano as her eyes drilled into the guy that had just entered. The look was probably meant to make him feel guilty, but had no effect.
"You are late!" Karin scolded firmly, her tone no more than a hiss. Obviously someone had had a bad morning, which definitely included missing her coffee.
"Not according to my watch," Pein replied without a smirk, failing to downplay the queasy feeling he felt inside.
Karin was about to make a nasty comment, a threat or a reminder about Pein's chances of keeping his role depending solely on his behavior today, but before she could get to that, the double doors of the auditorium swung open with a bang and Konan marched in, her face spelling A-N-G-E-R.
"Sorry, I'm late," she said harshly out loud and clear. Her footsteps were even, yet loud, and echoed in the room as she walked down the aisle and came to a stop in front of the stage.
Pein chanced a glance at her, although it wasn't even necessary to know he had lost everything he had achieved last night. He didn't need eyes to understand - the anger and hostility reached him through air as the girl radiated them off in to 9-meter radius.
Karin's long, devastated sigh filled the silence. "You haven't improved a bit since I last saw you." She rested her chin on her hand. "And I was already hoping to make a good impression on my colleagues... Now I'm gonna be seen as a failure." She glared at her students.
"Thought you'd be used to it by now," Konan muttered so quietly that the teacher had no ways of hearing it. Pein, however, did and held back a chuckle.
"But," Karin continued, oblivious of the joke aimed at her, and seated herself behind the piano, "I happen to believe in miracles. And since I promised to give you the chance..." she trailed off.
"Get yourselves on stage, we'll take it from the scene where Rika and Sebastian meet after the party." She rummaged in her bag a bit before pulling out a few pages of sheet music. "This scene is the so-called climax of the play!" she said and her eyes were clouded by the usual dreamy look she had while talking about something overwhelmingly wonderful, as she put it. "The duet of the two after the twist in the story! When Sebastian realizes that instead of duping the girl, he had been duped instead!"
She paused for a moment, her eyes clearing, and gave the two a considering look. "You do realize the importance of it, right?"
Two heads nodding. Even though they had no idea what Karin was referring to - their performance or the scene - they found it for the best to agree with everything she said.
"Alright then." Her fingers slid along the keys, searching for the right chord. "We'll skip the conversation right to the song. I'll make my decision based on that." She paused. "Do your best."
Her fingers pressed the keys down in a swift movement, creating a harsh sound, then continuing with a melody in a much smoother and softer tone.
Pein cleared his throat with a muffled sound. He took a deep breath and counted the beats in his head; he ran his tongue over his lower lip, ready to begin.
He started singing,
"I found a devil in disguise;
"Wrapped in my arms and her own lies.
"An angel's smile, an angel's eyes,
"watching how my heart dies."
The interval between the verses was no longer than a second. Konan's eyes were gazing blankly at the empty seats in the auditorium, like she wasn't paying attention to the song at all, much less to Pein. However, she didn't miss a beat to continue, her tone ironic,
"Oh please honey, don't play innocent.
"Nobody can be that perfect.
"My lies fell like the rain,
"don't come telling me you didn't do the same."
This was the part where the guitars and drums would be kicking in, but since there were none at the moment and the acoustic melody of the piano was the only thing to support their voices, Pein had to give forward the rough change in sound with solely his voice.
"I trusted you!
"I fell in love!
"Do not make up lies about what I've done!"
Konan recognized the analogy of the song and whipped around abruptly. It was more than ironic, it seemed like a joke, yet it had the effect of stirring up all the emotions that had bottled up in her. Her anger was both real and dramatic, just like Karin had expected of the role of Rika.
"Just admit I saw you through!
"You would've crushed me, if I hadn't crushed you!"
However, anger was the easy part of the song. The much more difficult part was yet to come - expressing the transition to love. Twisted love. A twisted love story.
"You had your fun," Pein sang in a slightly wavery tone, as though having just calmed down after a fit, "now are you done? My love, my dove?"
Konan calmed herself down, too. She took a breath, let it stay in her and then blew it out.
"Will you let me go away?
"Or will you still try to keep me safe, in your arms?"
Pein replied, "I may wrap them around you, but if you still pierce through, I'll have to let go."
Konan started to pace towards the guy, their eyes locked.
"But what if I stay?
"What if I stay?
"Is there still a cage I can lie in today?
"What if I stay today?"
Karin played a pause. Up until then Pein had all but forgotten her presence, much less had he remembered that they were being assessed.
It did not matter anymore. Not the play, only Konan. He had to explain to make things right. He had to try. It would not be easy, he knew.
Oh, so not easy.
"You are driving me insane,
"didn't you want to leave?!" Pein sang, letting out all his frustration.
Konan let out a chuckle, just like in the script, and replied,
"Darling, you've never been sane,
"if you wanted to start dating me."
Pein replied, "Is that your answer, goddess? Will you leave me in this madness?"
A pause. The piano melody continued, playing the absent guitar's notes. When its solo ended, Konan started again,
"Will you let me fly away?
"Or will you still try to keep me safe-"
Pein joined in, their voices creating a perfect harmony. "I may wrap them around you-"
"-in your arms-"
"-but if you still pierce through, I'll have to let go-"
"-But what if I stay, is there still a cage I can lie in today?"
"I'll have to let go."
"But what if I stay?"
The two finished at the same time. Their eyes were still locked. So much to say, too few chances, too few words. They let out a breath. There was only silence.
Then it was broken by Karin's sigh and following words that were coated with relief, "You've still got it."
-x-
"Konan!" Pein yelled, yet again. He did not have a clue how many times he had already said or shouted the name either in his mind or out loud in the recent days, he only knew that it had already made its way to his TOP 3 of Most Repeated Words; could be called a parasite word. "Wait!" he said, although knowing it pointless. The girl was not going to stop, not at the speed she was rushing down the hallway, probably searching for an escape route.
That was one thing she was not going to succeed at, though. She may have done her research thoroughly, but Pein had been a delinquent at this school for two and a half years; that was more than enough time for him to learn every secret passage this building had by heart so well, he could draw a map with his eyes closed.
"You need to wait and listen to me!" Pein's walk had turned into a jog as the girl showed no intentions of slowing down.
"I do not need to do anything for you! Sue me, if you think otherwise!"
Pein sighed harshly. This girl took everything way too literally. He had meant that he would dearly appreciate it, if she stopped to listen. Forcing her to do something was never the road to success, he had concluded. "Please," he begged, "you got the wrong impression-!"
Konan raised her hand without turning around or slowing down, her middle finger extended in the air. Pein's eyes narrowed at this. He was reaching his limit, he knew. He could take this only so long…
"For Christ's sake, Konan! Stop for a second and listen!"
To his surprise, she obliged. But not completely. She came to a sudden halt and whirled around, her face more enraged than Pein had ever seen it. And that was saying something. He stopped walking also.
"Listen?!" she spat. "What do you want me to listen to?! More lies? I have enough shit to deal with, I don't need your bullshit to top it off! So FUCK OFF!"
Pein pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm not giving you any bullshit! The chick you saw – her name's Sadako, she-"
Konan raised her palms dramatically. "Oh WOW, the bitch has a name! Do I look like I give a single fuck, Nagato?! DO I?!"
"She's the reason you're yelling your lungs out at me right now!" Pein shouted back. "It was nothing like you seem to think it was, yet you're making me sound like the world's biggest asshole!"
"That's because you are! You expect me to believe you. You! Of all people!" Konan took a breather, her eyes seeming glassy. "How can I ever know you're not lying?" Her words were raucous.
"You can't." Pein paused, letting the words sink in as he quoted Konan's own words. "But I promise you I'm not lying. It's your choice whether you believe it or not."
Konan stared at him with an empty look; it looked so sad, so heartbreaking, yet she would never cry in front of him.
"I can't trust you, Nagato. I just can't," she said, forcing her tone steady, and turned away, knowing it was a high time for her to leave before she lost herself. "I won't be another one of those girls. So just leave me alone." And she ran away.
Pein could have caught her with ease, he already knew where she was going. But he did not. She needed to be alone and he could not change that.
-x-
Pein headed back to his room. Even though it was Saturday, he did not feel like going anywhere. He hardly remembered his promise to meet up with Kakuzu later in the afternoon and was planning to cancel it by not showing up. He didn't want any interactions. He wanted to sleep and stay asleep for as long as humanly possible.
Deidara was leaning against Pein's door and his eyes stayed on him from the moment the latter turned the corner and entered the hallway. Even from afar he noticed something being seriously off and decided to observe closely.
Pein was so consumed by his own thoughts, only looking at the ground as he walked, that he didn't notice the blond leaning against his door before the other spoke up, saying, "Someone looks like they just got their ass kicked by a 5-year-old."
Pein's eyes darted up, the look in them solemn and, now, annoyed. "Leave me alone, Deidara. I don't feel like talking… to anyone at the moment."
Deidara sighed.
Pein was making it quite obvious with his pointed look that he would have liked for him to move out of the way, so he could enter his room (and lock it to prevent anyone from disturbing him), but Deidara ignored it; he asked in a worn-out voice, "What did my sister do now?"
Pein's eyes at him narrowed; he looked just like he was about to deny his mood having anything to do with Konan, but was searching for the right words to defend himself. In the end, he said nothing, knowing Deidara would know the truth with or without him saying anything.
Deidara snorted, reading Pein like an open book. "Of course it's her; like there's anything else that'd give you that funeral look. I know you well enough to say that." He folded his arms across his chest. "So, tell me – what horrid crime did she commit this time?"
Pein visibly paled. How the hell did he know of it already?! It took him a good moment to realize that Deidara probably had no clue of what had really happened, his choice of words being tough luck; he was referring to what she had done to get him down this time.
Pein let out a sigh. Despite himself, he wondered whether it would have been a good idea to talk to someone about it. And if it had to be someone – who would have been a better option than Deidara? Sasori, perhaps, but he did not know Konan like Deidara did.
"Could we go in at least?" Pein asked.
Deidara gave a nod and let the other have access to the door; Pein unlocked it and let them both in.
"So, spill it," Deidara said as soon as the door had closed behind them, "what's going on?"
Pein sat down on his bed, trying not to remember the last time he had been here. God, why did he always screw up?
No, that was the wrong question. Fact was, he did not usually screw up. He was successful at almost everything he did.
The correction would be, why did he always mess up with Konan? Why did he have to screw up things that really mattered to him? And by really, he meant 'more than anything else ever had'.
"She... does not trust me," Pein blurted out and blew out a breath, burying his face in his palms, arms propped on his spread apart knees.
Deidara's harsh laugh surprised him. He had not heard him laugh like that before. He looked up.
The guy in front of him seemed cold, all of a sudden. Like someone completely new – or, rather, old.
Pein knew from what Sasori had told him what a big transition his blond had gone through. That before this school, he used to be exactly like Konan.
Now, just for this single moment, it seemed like the old Deidara had returned.
"You're surprised?" The blond's tone was mocking and superior. "Just how much do you even know her?"
Pein shook his head, knowing he should have worded it differently. "It's not that. Hell, I know she doesn't trust anyone."
"Then what's the problem?"
"We... She used to- uhh," Pein cut himself off, making himself rethink just what exactly it was that he was trying to say.
"She used to - almost trust you?" Deidara took a guess.
Pein nodded, the look in his eyes devastated. "And now even that's gone."
"What happened?"
"She caught me with Sadako-"
"In bed?" Deidara took another guess, only this time his voice was more a snarl.
"What?" Pein's eyes darted to him. "No! Jesus, Deidara, I'm not that bad!"
The look the blond gave him was identical with Konan's.
Pein sighed harshly. "No, seriously!"
"Alright, so what did you do?"
"We were actually in the middle of an argument, but-"
"Why?"
Pein squeezed his eyes shut; this was a question he had hoped he wouldn't have to answer.
"A month ago or so there was this party and there were like tons of people and lots of alcohol and-"
"Yeah," Deidara put in harshly, "I get it. Get to the point."
Pein growled. I would, if you just let me finish, his glare said. "Well, in brief, she came telling me that she's pregnant and I'm to blame."
Pein had expected a shocked what? or a wave of insults, but instead he got a look of sarcasm and "Not that bad, huh?"
Pein growled again and shot up. "Hey, that's bullshit - I never even touched her, plus she sleeps with pretty much everyone - and stop judging me for fuck's sake!"
"You said there was a lot of alcohol," Deidara hinted.
Pein gave him a warning look.
The blond merely shrugged his shoulders, as though to say, Just saying.
"Deidara," Pein said with strained patience, "I know myself well. Better than anyone, because I am me. And believe me when I say that I did not touch that chick."
"Alright, alright," Deidara finally let it go. "So what was it that Konan saw?"
"I was quite furious with Sadako; we were standing close, so my guess is Konan thought we were in the middle of-"
"Alright, I get it." Deidara cut Pein off once again, which was seriously starting to get on the other's nerves. He glanced around and moved a few paces to seat himself on the edge of a desk. "So that's what this is all about, huh?"
Pein nodded. "As you can see."
Deidara nodded as well. A solemn silence fell, until Deidara threw his palms in the air. "Well, I can do nothing about it. Good luck." He started to leave.
Pein snapped up. "Wait, Deidara! What do you mean you can't do anything?! You're her twin-brother!"
Deidara turned to look at him. "So?" he asked. "You got yourself into this, you started messing with her, you gotta get yourself out of it. Iwaga rule number one."
"Iwaga rule? What?!" Pein was close to losing his temper. "I don't know your rules, for fuck's sake! You both're like from another world!"
Deidara pointed a finger at him. "Exactly! And don't you forget it!" Deidara's voice was strict. "Your usual techniques won't work on Konan. That's why you've been failing."
Pein gave him a rare, hopeless look. "How did Sasori manage with you?"
Deidara laughed. "Ask him."
To be continued...