Alrighty loves, here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy it :D R&R Pretty please!
Sighing, Deidara looked at the alarm clock on his nightstand; it read 3:00 AM.
'Goddamn, why can't I sleep?' Despite that thought, he knew full well why he couldn't. Hikari has been on his mind ever since he and Tobi had thrown that small surprise birthday party for her nearly a week ago.
'If you could even call that a party, so lame.' He shook his head and turned on his side…then rolled to the other…then on his belly, followed by on his back. It was like a game of toss and turn, and it irritated him to no end.
'I can't take this!' Finally, he threw off the covers and stood up, completely giving up on trying to get some hours of sleep. But why now? Why was it bothering him now, and not before like, when Hikari kissed him? Sure, he had some troublesome thoughts then, but it hadn't made him lose sleep over it.
"Maybe some milk will do me good. Yeah I can try for that, hm." Dei muttered and made way downstairs. Since everything was dark, he had tripped, or stumbled, or done both on several occasions during his journey to the kitchen. Cursing under his breath after a near close face plant with the ground, he dragged his tired body to the fridge and opened the door, the little orange bulb of light inside instantly coming on. The cool breeze in there made a shirtless Deidara shiver, so he quickly grabbed the carton of milk and shut the door.
'Should I check for the expiration date?' He pondered, but after a second thought he decided he didn't want to open the fridge door to use the light in there and face the cold a second time, then a third time when he had to put the milk away; he also felt mighty lazy to walk all the way over to the doorway just to flip the switch on.
'Ah screw it.' He said and drank right from the box. He didn't feel any weird taste, so assumed it was safe enough to keep drinking it without the worry of later have an upset stomach.
"Dei-san?" A voice suddenly called out, causing him to let the milk go through the wrong pipe as he breathed, and so issued a messy squirting through the nose, then a series of coughs and wheezes.
"Are you okay?" Hikari asked, approaching the blond as he tried to recompose himself in the midst of this embarrassing moment.
'God kill me now…' He thought. Humiliation took over, and oh, how he hated when that happened.
"F-Fine, I'm fine, un." He managed to say, wiping his nose and mouth with his arm. He then turned to the girl, and now that his eyes had gotten used to the darkness, he noticed her wearing what he figured to be one of Konan's less revealing nightgowns. Hikari blinked a couple of times.
"What are you doing up at this hour?" She proceeded to ask. The blond, opening and closing his mouth, almost let the actual reason slip out.
"I err…I could ask you the same question, hm." He crossed his arms and tried to act all cool and authoritative, slightly imitating his up-tight partner.
"Ah well, I couldn't sleep, so I came down to get something to drink, see if that would help." She eyed the carton of milk, now completely empty.
"Seems like we had the same idea then, hm. You know I hear tea's real good to have when you're trying to go to sleep." He said, trying to mask the obvious fact he had drank it all by himself. Nodding, she started to look through the cupboards for any little tea packs that may be left. Meanwhile, Deidara grabbed a rag near the sink and started to clean up the milky meson the counter.
'Ugh, as if losing sleep over her wasn't enough that had to happen right as she walks in. Karma must really hate me or something.' He thought with a sweatdrop.
"Oh that reminds me," She suddenly said, glancing back to him. "I haven't gotten a chance to thank you for the gift you gave me." Deidara and Sasori had been sent off on a mission the morning after Hikari's birthday, and they hadn't returned until the day before yesterday. Still, despite the distance the blond artist had already been losing hours of sleep.
"Oh, it wasn't anything special—of course my art is always magnificent and meant to be appreciated by everyone, and most beautiful when blown to pieces….but I figured you'd like to keep something that was non-explosive, un." He finished lamely, mentally socking himself. Was there really any need to add his usual art speech that late at night?
'She's probably sick of hearing about it all the time.' He thought, sighing a little.
"But still, thank you. I really like it, and it's certainly beautiful…were it meant to explode or not." She added at the end, unsure if her comment held any insult to his artistic viewpoint or not. But you could never be too safe. At that, the blond grinned.
"Well, glad you liked it, hm. Means it won't go to waste, hopefully." He joked, setting the soaked up rag in the sink, not even bothering to rinse it; he wasn't down for that, let someone else do it! Smiling herself, she returned to searching around for the tea pack, and finally spotted one, but was at the highest shelf.
'Of course.' She thought, and stood on her tippy toes to try and reach it, but she was still a few inches short of touching it. Seeing her struggle, Deidara came up behind her and his hand easily made a grab for it. He then held it down to her front.
"Ah, thanks!" She beamed, taking from his hands. But that fell on deaf ears, as the oddly sweet scent of her hair struck his nose, it being set right on top of her head at the moment.
"Uh huh…" He muttered, his eyelids closing a moment to breathe in her scent once more. Was that honeysuckle or some kind of flowery perfume? Whatever it was, he found it intoxicating.
'Why does she have to do this to me? As she doesn't even realize it, that's the sad part.' He thought. At that moment, Hikari turned around, only to freeze on the stop as she almost ran right into his bare chest. Deidara had not moved from his spot, but he was now looking down at her with a dazed look in his eyes. That puzzled Hikari.
"Um, Dei? Is something…wrong?" She hesitantly asked. The blond didn't respond, only began to lean down toward her face. Her eyes began to grow as he inched closer, and she began to draw back. What had gotten into him all of a sudden? She was completely bewildered.
"Dei-san what are you-" She slightly gasped when the man abruptly grasped her waist and pressed her body to his. She could feel his well toned body very much now.
"Hikari, just this time, don't think about anything. Just this time, let this happen…you can forget about it later, hm." He spoke softly, before finally capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. So shocked she was, her hands let go of the tea pack, it falling to the ground and sliding off slightly. Deidara fully closed his eyes, deepening the kiss, hoping to god he wasn't making a fool out of himself with this rushed impulse. Hikari remained motionless for the first minute, her cheeks burning red, but her arms eventually found their way around his neck and her lips moved against his, returning the kiss. Her acceptance elated him; he could barely believe she was responding to him so quickly! It had been a bold move, yes…he or they both would probably regret it later, but who cared? It was that moment that counted right now. Just that moment in which he let his feelings speak louder than his mind. His heart was beating so fast he felt it could explode; and what a wonderful feeling that was.
Hikari returned to her room, tealess, as there had been no motivation to continue in the making of it after what happened. She flopped down on her bed and rolled over on her back, staring at the ceiling as her fingers lightly traced her lips.
'I can't believe he kissed me…I can't believe I kissed him back.' She could still feel the pressure of his mouth on hers, still taste him. Her heart was still beating fast even now, her cheeks were still flushed, and though she couldn't see it she felt the warmth of her face.
But was it alright to happen?
Shaking her head, she decided not to think about it for now and just relish in the moment that took place minutes ago. A thought came to mind, a thought she did not quite know the answer to yet.
'Could it be? Do I like Deidara?' With that kiss, her feelings and emotions began to mix. What would happen from thereon?
Deidara could not stop grinning to himself. What was he thinking? He wasn't thinking, that's what! Took a hell of a lot of guts to just do that. However, now it felt as if a heavy boulder had been lifted off of him, and he felt as if he could soar.
'I did it…I kissed her. Damn it felt good!' He thought, feeling as giddy as a schoolgirl, but of course he was too manly to actually act on it. But if he wasn't he would've. Heaving a sigh of content, he closed his eyes and turned on his side. Her smell still lingered in his nostrils, and her taste was felt every time he licked his lips. It was just as sweet as her scent. Usually Deidara wasn't much of a sweet person, but if the sweet comes from a woman like Hikari, he could be easily converted to being a sweetaholic or something. Somehow, he felt he could never grow sick of anything that had to do with her, he did. There were no concrete explanations as to how or why he suddenly began to feel such feelings for her, not that he could think of anyway. Perhaps that one kiss had triggered something, but it couldn't have just been that; he knew it had to be more. With all those months Hikari had spent in Akatsuki, from being a mere baby, to being subject to a horrible experimental potion mishandled by the stupidest member Akatsuki had (though not an actual casualty in the end), and turning into a full grown woman way too early, and going through a range of personalities, and having to learn how to act right or else Pein would most likely get pissed at the lack of progression. In all that something must've happened to cause him this sudden infatuation with her.
Sasori had tried to come up with an antidote of sorts, but the leader had dismissed that now that he saw potential in Hikari, something some of the members, mostly Sasori and Deidara, were still weary of. Either way, after all they had been through, he could extrapolate the fact of how Hikari came to eventually mature really made the blond see her in another light. Was it wrong? Maybe. Would Pein kill him if he found out? He wouldn't put it past him, but what the hell? All that mattered was that he had taken the first step, and though he said she could forget about it later, he really hoped she wouldn't, and seeing as she had kissed back he felt some confidence that she wouldn't just brush it off.
'I hope it works out, somehow…' He thought, as he began to drift off to sleep, the insomnia period having finally ended at that point.
