Black Fingernails, Red Wine
Chapter 26
Despite Daichi's warning and Itachi's later worried call after Mikoto finally told him, absolutely nothing happened that could point towards the threatened revenge. Break over, Itachi returned to school after begging the blond to be careful – perhaps stay at his mother's house. Now that Daichi had forgiven him, though, the mechanic had invited him back to work, giving him commissions for paint jobs that paid more than just fixing the cars. Once again, he was unable to visit Itachi at his school due to his work schedule, but this time, the Uchiha made sure he could come down on weekends to spend time with the blond. Up until school began for the blond, he was happily working at the garage and racing for the mechanic. After school started, his final term before he was free, he went back to only working after school. To his utter horror, Daichi made him take part in the college entrance exams with a variety of bribes and threats just to see how he was doing. He did it, complaining loudly, but was pleased when he got to show off his score to anyone who would sit still long enough. Daichi and Itachi were both shot down when they commented about the Universities he could get into with the score he received, the blond laughing himself silly.
The second half of the school year passed much easier than the first half, though he had been having the worst up and down feelings ever. He was so close to be finished with high school forever, exams seemed to approach too quickly, but the days stretched far too long. It was difficult to see the point in continuing to go to school when he already knew his grades were high enough to graduate. Worst of all, Daichi was forcing him to go to the actual graduation ceremony. Deidara tried to weasel his way out of it, claiming he couldn't afford the fee for the cap and gown and what was the point, but Rin, beaming evilly, had produced the receipt that showed the two of them had gone behind his back and paid for the ceremony uniform for him so he couldn't turn them down.
A whole year ago, he had been to this event and he had not enjoyed it. And that time he had been watching Itachi walk across the stage, watching Itachi give his speech. A whole year ago, he had been on the verge of failing high school. Not because he wasn't smart, but because he didn't like it. He didn't like teachers, he didn't like sports, he didn't like cliques, and compared to the drama and trauma on the streets, the drama of high school seemed childish. No one liked him either for the most part. No one thought he was smart enough for school. Too drugged up, fucked up and lazy. It was hard to believe that all it took to kick his butt in gear was a boring, stoic senior and the promise of a vehicle of his choice for his very own – no strings attached. There was also the matter of taking college courses in that deal, but Itachi had never exactly said when he had to take them.
Deidara was happy his last name was near the beginning of the long list of graduates for his class. He might have finished with grades that no one expected – second in his graduating class, but that didn't mean he wanted to stay in this formal, ugly-as-shit dress and hat they made everyone wear for longer than he absolutely had to. The principal had even offered Deidara a position to speak, much like Itachi had last ear. He had flatly refused. Him? Give a speech about high school and his achievements? What achievements?
Yeah, fuckers, the secret to my success was a bribe from my rich, hot, sex buddy.
He didn't think that would fly with the school board, but that had been the thought running through his head when the man offered it to him, eyes shining as he looked down at him like a prodigal son. It was just indecent.
So what? He had gone from the lowest grade in the whole school to one of the top for students in his graduating class. No big deal. He had just done all his work and slipped in a million extra credits. Yay? Now he had to walk across the stage in front of thousands of people to get a slip of paper that said he was smart. Who cares about that? Didn't they give him enough papers with grades and reports on them all year that told him so already?
As he stood in line, fidgeting irritably, his eyes scanned the crowd. His hot sexy buddy – oh sorry, his boyfriend. A whole year together and he was still having trouble saying it in a sentence. It was just that strange to him. Itachi couldn't make it to his graduation. Actually, Deidara hadn't even told him when it was. He hadn't told anyone when it was, and he was the only person who worked for Daichi that was in his grade so he hoped that the information would remain a secret, but someone had leaked it and Itachi was upset he had found out too late to set time aside. Unfortunately, Daichi and Rin were among those the information got leaked to, and he quickly spotted Daichi's blue hair in the crowd, sitting with Suki on his lap, Rin on one side, Mikoto and Sasuke on the other, sitting in the middle of a large group of people he had not wanted to see. It looked like everyone from the garage and the races had come. Mikoto was already filming the entire thing, so was Sakaya, who smirked when she saw him looking at her. He had a feeling she was live streaming the whole thing.
He cursed quietly and the person behind him gave him a nudge to be silent.
He needed a goddamn cigarette.
The person in front of him stepped forward as his name was called, soon it would be over, but he'd been so irritable about the whole thing he had worked himself up to a tantrum. All these people were here to embarrass him with merciless teasing – except perhaps Mikoto – and he wasn't going to have it.
"…someone who has… simply astounded everyone with his achievements in the last two years, someone I personally never thought to have the honor of introducing onto this stage Deida—"
The principal's announcement and the crowds applause diminished as Deidara stomped onto the stage. Not beaming in pleasure and embarrassment as the other students had. Not stepping with a lively bounce as the other students had, so happy to have succeeded in the mediocre task of graduating high school. He was stomping and he was scowling. Who in their right mind wouldn't be? Who wanted to celebrate something like graduating high school? What did that really mean? It meant you were booted out into the real world where people didn't care that you were cool or popular or how smart or your attendance record. They cared about how well you could adapt to the real world, who better had done that than himself and high school had played a very minimal role in that. The real world didn't care that you passed math by being smart or cheating. All that studying for a piece of paper that let the world know you were either a brown-noser or highly skilled at cheating.
"C-congratulations, Deidara," the principal said as the quietly raging blond approached him. "I'm very proud of you."
"Whatever," Deidara snapped as he snatched the diploma and started to walk off. He paused. A debate raged in his head for a moment, to keep his tantrum in, or let it spill out. The podium with the mic was right there.
And when had he ever kept his tantrum in?
He changed course and nudged the principal hard and out of the way of the mic.
"Hi," his voice echoed in the dead silence of the auditorium. "When the school was preparing for this night with the full intention of boring you to death," a few scattered chuckles in the audience, "they asked me to give a speech on my achievements and my time at school. Since anyone who's ever met me knows I'm not a fucking brownnoser like this guy," he gestured back to where the appointed valedictorian sat with the teachers, bristling slightly at the insult, "I turned it down. Buuuut, I changed my mind." Out in the audience, he could see several confused faces, several horrified faces, but most looked incredibly amused. Daichi working hard to try and keep his face neutral, Rin's hand was hiding a grin and Sasuke was smirking openly.
"Look. High school is dumb as fuck—"
"Deidara, don't swear—"
"As FUCK," he repeated louder to drown out the principal's protests. "Period. I don't know why you all are so damn proud of your kids. I've made it obvious this past year that I was the worst student in the school by choice, obviously it's not difficult to succeed in high school. Congratulations on my graduating class for doing the bare minimum in life." Daichi bit down on his knuckles, Rin's shoulders were shaking. "Of course, it might just be the school you've been sending your kids school fucking sucks, un. Actually, lots of people have asked me how I managed not to get kicked out of middle school and again in high school. I was literally the worst student in this shit hole and I finished in the number 2 spot, un. I bequeath you with me secret, since I'm now leaving: blackmail, people. Plain and simple. Actually there's another secret I don't have to keep anymore—"
"Deidara, thank you, that is enough," the principal interrupted, trying to push him away from the podium. "You turned down the position to speak, we have to continu—"
"The principal is a pedophile and will let shit slide for a headjob," Deidara shouted into the mic before the principal could stop him. He smirked at his fellow graduating students staring in horror at him. "Think how little stress you could have had if you sucked dick as well as I did, un." Oh, the horrified roar from the crowd, the shouting, the cries of 'what', the woman who screamed the principals name in rage. "Freedom!" Deidara sang, giving a dramatic bow to the crowd, his friends laughing hysterically now and stalked off stage.
When he was out of sight, he pushed through the door to the hallway instead of returning to his seat, ready to sneak out. There was no way he was sitting through the rest of the ceremony. He took his green phone out of his pocket and gave the camera the middle finger with this tongue sticking out to send Itachi a less formal version of the senior picture Itachi had gotten of him. He headed towards the outer doors, sending the picture to Itachi without looking to see if anyone else was in the hallway as well.
"You always did know how to make an exit, but I never thought of you as a motivational speaker."
Deidara whirled around in search of the voice, spotting the owner quickly and smirked. "Nor such a model student, huh, Sassypants," he said, striking a pose at the redhead leaning against the wall.
"Don't call me that," Sasori scowled at him, pushing off the wall to walk towards him.
"When did you get back?" the blond asked, throwing his body against the door to open it for them.
"Today," the redhead said, blandly.
Deidara made a gesture to imitate being touched. "Just to see me graduate?" he asked.
Sasori's expression didn't change, he just raised and dropped a shoulder. "It did seem unlikely," he said as they walked. "Did you get hit in the head? Or just wanted to for the hell of it?"
Shrugging, Deidara pulled the robe and hat off and stuffed them unceremoniously into Daichi's car, taking his bag from the back seat. "Who knows," he dodged. "How was your research trip?"
A slow, half sneer appeared on Sasori's face as he stared him down. "You don't care about that," Sasori stated. "I don't like small talk. Where is your hideous date tonight?"
"I only came with Daichi, un," Deidara told him, heading over to Sasori's huge, army like car, so easy to spot in the parking lot. Overcompensating, he assumed.
"Really?" Sasori inquired, almost absentmindedly, but Deidara recognized curiosity in his voice. "How do you expect to fund your atrocious habits without needy old men."
"Don't be jealous, Sasori, you're the only important needy old man in my life, un," Deidara smirked as he took his phone out and snapped a picture of Sasori's scowling face. "I came alone because I didn't tell my boyfriend when my graduation was, un."
"I suppose you're sending him my picture to make him jealous," Sasori grumbled as he climbed into his car, Deidara following him.
Deidara smirked, propping his feet up on the dashboard until Sasori smacked them down. "Itachi's not the jealous type," he told him. "I just wanted him to know who my oldest friend was. Old meaning age, not just how long I've known you, un."
Sasori glowered again. "I am not as old as Daichi," he corrected him.
"So you claim," the blond said vaguely, leaning back in his seat as Sasori pulled out onto the street. He didn't actually know how old the redhead was since the man seemed blessed with anti-aging genes.
His phone jingled in his hand as Itachi replied back with a text, 'Who is that?'.
Deidara grinned, 'hes a grouchy old man who thinks hes better than evryone'.
'So he is an older, but younger looking version of you.'
'lol stfu hes a friend whos a doctor'
"Stop telling him things," Sasori snapped, glancing sideways at him.
Deidara gave him a irritable side eye and obediently put his phone away. "Where are we going, un?"
"My house. You're due for a checkup."
"Aw, you're worried about me?" Deidara grinned, touching a finger to his chin.
Sasori huffed out a scoff. "No, you are entertaining to poke," he informed him, pulling out of the city to travel out into the more expensive neighborhoods. They were silent as they drove, finally approaching a large house, lined with trees, protecting the house from outside view. Deidara hadn't been to the house in a few years, avoiding it when it's occupant was away. The yard was still full of raised gardens with well-tended plants and flowers, he never saw them, but supposed that Sasori hired people to take care of them when he was away.
Sasori unlocked the front door and let him in. "Take your shoes of bef—hey!" he glared at Deidara who had walked all over the marble foyer in his outdoor stained shoes. The blond gave him an innocent expression then kicked his shoes off and slipped deeper into the house on his way to the kitchen. A glance back showed Deidara that the redhead was just shaking his head and following him.
"Don't—"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't touch anything," Deidara said, rolling his eyes and opening the fridge. It was empty. He scowled unhappily and went into the attached sitting room to drop onto the sofa. "So you really did just get back, un? Came all the way from some remote, unheard of town in North Korea studying the cure for aids or something just to see me graduate?"
Sasori glowered at him, sitting down on a chair as rigidly as though it were made of wood and not plump with stuffing. "I am not studying aids. And I wasn't in North Korea," he stated, but didn't elaborate. Sasori had a tendency to converse in statements which allowed him to quickly end any conversation he didn't want to be in. Deidara was used to it.
"So you came all the way from some remote, unheard of town in India to see me graduate?" he asked, undaunted.
"I was not in India," Sasori stated back. He continued to stare without giving any indication that he understood that a normal person would have simply answered the unasked question. Deidara opened his mouth to obnoxiously repeat the statement again with another possible location when Sasori cut him off. "I am surprised you are not dead yet," he said, though he didn't look very surprised.
"Resilient as ever, un," Deidara smirked, tucking his hands behind his head.
"With your atrocious habits," Sasori continued as though he hadn't said anything, "and your erratic behavior. I don't have anything to give you, so don't try to weasel something out of me for free."
"I haven't touched anything in seven months, un," Deidara told him smugly. He was pleased to see a look of actual surprise cross Sasori's face. It was so hard to surprise the redhead. The expression turned suspicious, so Deidara held out his arm. "It's true. You can test me, un," he told him.
Those staring honey brown eyes narrowed slightly, his head tilting almost mechanically to the side as he observed him. His face was a blank as a doll. Sasori Akasuna's face hadn't changed since Deidara was a child. They had met when he was still living with his parents, going to family parties dressed as a girl to hide his mother's unhappiness from the others. Wanting to please her, he played along like it was a game. He played with his cousins, who believed he was a girl too, but Sasori had seen through his game. Maybe it was because he was a doctor, or maybe the staring eyes saw more than normal people did. When Deidara had accidentally ran into him, Sasori had told him off, calling him a boy. Deidara had stared back at him, wondering how this stranger could see through his clothes and his hair. Their relationship hadn't started out well. Deidara had kicked Sasori in the shins as hard as he could and bolted under the tables, grinning at the pained threats that followed him. The next year, they met again. His father had brought the young doctor to him, instructing Deidara to allow Sasori to examine him. He was a friend of the family.
His parents had left him alone with Sasori and he obediently let himself be examined. While the redhead was listening to his lungs, he asked how his leg was.
"You'll have to kick harder than that if you want to leave an impression," Sasori had told him coolly.
"You're not a family friend. Did they give you money, un?" Deidara asked, eyeing Sasori in a similar way that Sasori was now eyeing himself.
"They did," Sasori finally answered, sitting back in his chair with his arms folded. "They don't want anyone else to know you're a boy."
"I know," Deidara said, shrugging. "What's the money for?"
"I study diseases and poisons," Sasori informed him. "Antidotes and cures. I think your family is also interested in one of my papers on anti-aging procedures."
"So you're like a supervillain, un?" Deidara asked, reaching out to touch the started man's face. He seemed not used to being touched and started to lean away, but Deidara grinned and clapped his hands on both cheeks. "That's alright, I wont tell anyone, un!"
Sasori had taken more of a liking to him than the rest of his family and continued to act as his doctor even after Deidara had been abandoned by his family. Sasori never seemed to age and Deidara had never been able to find out how old he was.
The redhead was staring at him the same way he had then, finally concluding that he was unable to answer his own questions without voicing them. "What brought this on?" he inquired, his arms folding.
Deidara grinned mischievously at him and shrugged as if he hadn't a clue, but he knew Sasori wasn't convinced, but he wasn't going to give him anything. Sasori dined on information and Deidara wasn't going to give it away willingly. He wasn't going to sell Itachi out to Sasori. In addition, Sasori would think the whole thing was stupid and would probably figure out how to use it to Deidara's disadvantage.
Even so, Sasori didn't press, not wanting to appear curious. The rest of the night was spent with a series of tests on him to see if he was still healthy. He was pleased at being able to shock Sasori twice in one night when his first few basic tests showed that he was drug free. It took a lot to startle the redhead. A miracle to startle him twice. Knowing Sasori preferred to work in complete silence, Deidara launched into an endless stream of talk about school and races and the cars Daichi had won. Annoyed, but accepting that he would be unable to stop Deidara from talking, Sasori replied with small nods and murmurs, every so often asking a question as though trying to figure out what Deidara was hiding from him. He was there for hours, but since Sasori's lab was in his basement, he had no idea what time it was. He slept for several minutes at a time. Sasori didn't mind, continuing about his business and waking him up when he stuck him with another needle.
"You need to be careful," Sasori stated, hours later as he peered under a microscope.
He rubbed his eyes and stretched, rolling onto his side so he could look at him. "Yes, Mom. You know you tell me that every time—"
Sasori gave him the curtesy of lifting his head up to give him a condescending look. "Uchiha is out of prison."
"Duh," Deidara said, rolling his eyes. "I was at the court house for Daichi when the judge officially announced it, un."
"You're a fool," Sasori informed him. "He's going to do something soon."
"It's been months," Deidara waved him off. "It's made this year pretty dull so far, un… just waiting."
"He wont wait much longer."
"Sasori-danna," Deidara sat up, grinning at the involuntary twitch Sasori gave at the addon to his name. "It's been almost five months, un. I can take care of myself. You don't have to panic every time you think your test subject is going to run out. I'm sure you'll find another one just as quickly as you found me, un."
"Too much trouble," Sasori stated, turning back to his papers. "Just be cautious. I'm finished here. I will see you in a few days."
"Okidok," Deidara said, tugging his shirt back on and headed for the stairs.
"Why?" Sasori finally demanded, giving him a look that looked almost childishly indignant. "Tell me."
Deidara gave him a devious smirk and took another picture with his phone and rushed up the stairs before Sasori could throw something sharp at him. Itachi would be a secret. He didn't need to hear Sasori taunt him for having a boyfriend, his desire to meet Itachi for some psychological testing.
Stuffing his feet into his shoes, he stepped out of Sasori's house and hurried down the street to get away of the secret filled house and deadly garden. When he was four streets away, he looked down at his phone again. There was several notifications waiting for him on both phones. Sasori's basement didn't have reception. He opened Daichi's message first, asking where he was and if he wanted to go driving. He replied apologetically, telling him he had been with Sasori. Next he opened Itachi's messages.
'You should have told me there was a live streaming of your graduation.'
'I'm watching the video now.'
'You look so mad.'
'Deidara'
'What the fuck, Deidara?!'
'You are insane!'
Missed call.
'Where are you? What the hell?'
'Please call me back.'
Deidara chuckled happily to himself, picturing Itachi watching the ceremony. He called a favor to come pick him up and bring him back to the apartment, then called Itachi. It was early in the morning, but Itachi would be awake. He was such a weirdo.
"Where have you been?" Itachi's voice sounded worried, not giving him a good morning as he usually did. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I've been at Sasori's house, un," Deidara told him, sitting down on the curb. "Sorry, I forgot his house doesn't have reception. He was making sure I'm healthy and not riddled with incurable diseases, un."
"…Oh, that's good, I suppose," Itachi said. "…I watched the recording of the ceremony."
"I saw," Deidara responded, smirking. "I think I have a future in motivational speaking."
Itachi made a noise that sounded like he was holding back a groan. "Is… it…"
"Oh yeah, totally true," Deidara smirked a little. "I never tell lies." There was silence on the other end and his smile lessoned a little, knowing Itachi was a little upset, thinking of the struggles of his life. "Not a recent truth, anyway," he added.
"Still," Itachi said quietly, then heaved a sigh. "Well, I'm glad you outed him at least. Have you been awake all night?"
"Yeah, my friend's coming to take him home, un."
"Good, I hope you have a good sleep," Itachi said, a smile in his voice. "You deserve a good sleep after all that work this year."
"Damn right," Deidara said with a smirk. "I'll call you later. Or… maybe I'll come visit you this weekend?" he added hopefully.
"We'll see," Itachi said. "Sleep well."
He didn't go straight to sleep, though he wanted to. He stopped at Daichi's to retrieve his bag that had been left in Daichi's car and work was halted for the day because Daichi and Rin were so pleased for him they wanted to have a small congratulatory party of pizza and ice cream. His birthday had recently passed, but he received a few more presents to his utter delight. He wondered if he should go to college just to impress everyone enough to give him presents for no reason again.
When Rin left to return to the apartment, he could finally excuse himself to exhaustedly crawl up into his bunk to hide his new presents and flopped face first on his bed to sleep. Milkshake chirped at him as the creature stretched against him and he obediently reached down to rub his tiny head. It was no good. He was so tired the noise in the garage was keeping him awake. He heaved a sigh at sat up.
"Let's go home," he suggested to the kitten. He scooped up the cat and pulled his hoodie back on. After making sure his phones were in his bag and his presents were properly shut away in the cupboard behind his pillow, he climbed down the bunks and slipped out of the garage. No one stopped him.
The sun was setting, the air warm with the beginning of summer. He yawned hugely and dragged his feet in the direction of the apartment. He couldn't wait to fall into bed. After taking a short cut over the fences of a train track and walking down the street to the apartment, he noticed an unmarked police car following him. He stopped, reaching up to remove Milkshake from his shoulder in case he had to run. At the next crossroad, he turned to look at the car, glaring at it. The windows were darkly tinted and he couldn't see through them, but something about the shadows made him think there was more than one person in the car following him.
This could be bad; he didn't want to deal with vindictive police officers today. Resolutely giving them his back, he crossed the street and stalked the whole way to the apartment where Rin was making chalk drawings on the side walk with a few of the small children under the light of the street lamp Deidara had often fantasized about destroying because it shown in his window. She waved at him, adjusting Suki strapped to her back, and asked if he wanted to draw with them.
The police car continued passed, unnoticed by her or the children. "Nah, I just came home to sleep," he told her, setting the kitten back on his shoulder. "Too noisy at the garage, un."
She nodded in understanding, smiling down at one of the younger boys who wanted to show he how he wrote his own name with the chalk. He went inside and climbed the stairs. It had been a while since he had stayed here, having been sleeping and studying in the garage or at the Uchiha house. Being free from school was a wonderful prospect for tomorrow and after dropping Milkshake gently on the ground, he went to his bed and threw himself down on it and pulled his phones out to charge. Without even bothering to undress, he pulled his sheet over his head and buried his face in his pillow. Milkshake bounced over to crawl up into the curve of his neck under his chin to sleep with him.
It was still dark out when he opened his eyes again. The street lamp cast a dim yellow light in his room through the grimy window. He wondered what woke him up. He reached for the green phone Itachi had given to him and looked at the screen. It was 3:14AM. Groaning irritably, he flipped off the window and rolled over to pull the sheets over his head to block out the light. Hard as he tried, sleep wouldn't come to him. Something didn't feel right. Milkshake wasn't on his bed anymore. With a heavy sigh, he kicked off the blankets and stood up to go smoke a cigarette.
The sidewalk was empty and, looking straight down, he could see some of the chalk drawings done by the children. He grabbed his bag to find his cigarettes and as he stood up, movement outside caught his eye. The undercover police car was there. It had been parked across the street and the doors closing had been what caught his attention. He frowned.
Putting his cigarettes back into his bag, he stuffed his phone in his pocket and went to the door to see if anyone else was awake.
It was then he spotted Milkshake in the corner of his room. "Hey," he said, crouching down to reach for the kitten, pausing when he noticed the kitten's fur standing on end, making himself look twice as big as normal. Sliding his hand carefully underneath the shaking cat, he picked him up and scratched his chin. "What's wrong?"
As he started for the door, Milkshake let out a yowl and clawed his way up to hide hood of his jacket. Deidara could feel him trembling, but could see what was wrong until he opened the door. Smoke choked him as the pull of the door sucked it into the room. Ducking low to avoid it, he saw the floors below were licked with flames, crackling angrily with cruel hunger. Terror held him for a few very long seconds before he launched himself down the stairs.
"Fire!" he screamed as loud as he could, landing on the next floor, calling out names as he banged on their doors passing them, trying to wake them up. The third floor stairs were ablaze, the windows on the landing were broken as if something had been thrown through them. Rin was on the second floor where the fire was catching fast. Leaping over the railing, he landing on the second floor and used his momentum to slam his shoulder into the door, breaking it down. Rin startled from her bed, staring at him as he sprinted to the crib.
"What are you doing?" she demanded, as he lifted the sleeping baby in his arms, wrapping her up in the pink blanket.
"The building's on fire, un!" Deidara said, throwing her coat on the bed to pull over her nightgown and went to the door. "We have to get out, now!"
Rin hurriedly pulled on the coat and stuffed the few special pieces of jewelry she had here and followed him to the door. Holding the fussing baby carefully against him, Deidara put his arm around her waist to guide her down the burning stairs, squinting through the smoke. With Daichi's line of work, he always made sure there were secret exits, escape routes in case of danger. The garage was littered with them, the apartment not as much. There were ways out if you were on the roof, and a special tunnel dug to connect the building to the water system that ran under the building. Smoke stung his eyes as he hurried into the children's play room and kicked aside a desk to get to the hatch.
"Wait!" Rin cried, gripping his shoulder. "The children are upstairs."
Deidara set his jaw and braced himself for her anger, holding onto her tight to keep her from bolting back into the building and pushed her down into the tunnel. She grabbed onto the handrails to keep from falling and he followed after her, forcing her climb down or fall. He pulled the door shut, plunging them in darkness. He was slow climbing, holding Suki in one arm. When he reached the bottom, he reached his hand back to make sure the kitten was still there. The tiny figure trembled in terror, tiny claws dug deep in his hoodie. He sighed in relief.
"Deidara! Deidara! How could you?!" Rin screamed, her voice echoing in the dark. "How could you?! The babies are up there! The younger children! Why didn't you get them? GO up and get them out!" she was gripping his shirt, shaking him. He felt one hand leave his sleeve and felt, rather than saw her waving her hand around blindly looking for the handrails to go back up.
Deidara didn't respond. He knew that logically, it would have been impossible to get anyone out right now. He had acted without thinking, throwing himself down the stairs to rescue those in the building her cared for most. He had banged on doors. Hopefully the others had heard him and gotten others out too. There was a rumble above their head. They had to move. The building could collapse down on them. Maybe. He never thought about how strong the concrete of the underground water ways were. His boots soaked from standing in the water. Rin's feet were bare. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he turned the flashlight on and took Rin's arm, hauling her away from the handrails and deeper into the tunnels. When they came to a metal ladder, it's rungs jutting out from the cement walls, Deidara stuck his phone in his pocket and began to climb. Rin obediently followed, crying as she climbed. He handed Suki down to her so he could brace himself against the manhole and push up into the streets.
The silence of the water way was interrupted by the raging noise above.
The building was ablaze, licking out of windows and up to the higher floors. Deidara's room was gone. Wailing firetrucks blocked the streets, several men at a time were holding down hoses that tried their best to tame the flames. The front door was broken into, firemen were running in trying to save the people inside. Strangers were standing around watching, keeping out of the firemen's way. It looked so hopeless.
In the overwhelming din, Deidara saw a familiar Mustang pulling up along with several other cars. Daichi got out of the car in a panic the blond had never seen before. Several people rushed to catch onto the mechanic, stopping him from running in himself. He threatened and cursed them, fighting to get into the building. A fireman rushed out, holding two small children, and their parents rushed from Daichi's group, screaming their names in fear of what may meet them.
"Daichi!" Rin called out, rushing towards the cars.
Dark eyes swerved to find the voice, spotting her approaching and threw off the others. Daichi flew to meet her, pulling her into his arms. Tears of relief streamed down his face. Another moment of panic came to his face until he saw the baby in her arms. He cradled his daughter carefully, making sure she was alright, but her piercing cries of fear brought more relief as he hugged them both tightly. Urging from the others finally got them to move and get back in the car. The police were arriving and not all of them were safe to stay at the scene.
A few hours later, the fire was on the news. The fire department was claiming arson – well, duh, many watching commented, though the reporter continued on the screen. There were reports that a suspected arsonist was living in the building as well, but so far had not been found and the police were searching for him. Four people had escaped unharmed – two adults and two children. Another five had been rushed to the hospital and, so far, three bodies had been pulled from the building. Two of young children and one of a teenager. Tears fell among the watchers as the man continued that the building had been a halfway house and a foster home for young people. A place to keep them off the streets, a place to start fresh. There was no telling how many had been in the building to begin with, so the death count was still uncertain. Five of the people had so far been identified by the local police and were subject to arrest when their injuries were treated.
The reporter may not have known, but the watchers in Daichi's garage knew. There had been twenty-one in the building that night, including Rin, Suki and Deidara. Six were unaccounted for. Four of them were children younger than ten. Two of them, toddlers, children of workers in the garage. Most of them had been on the fourth and fifth floor and everyone was sure they were dead. Rin sobbed against Daichi, verbally blaming Deidara for their deaths. He shouldn't have wasted time saving her when there were others that he could have helped. Daichi didn't say anything, silently disagreeing with her, quite happy that the blond had made sure his wife and daughter were safe. But the mention of the blond startled them with sudden realization.
Deidara was nowhere to be found.