Chapter 28: Clay Sculpture Arc - Splashes of Color
Longest chapter yet in the story. I hope you all enjoy reading it, and please leave a review if you did!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my OCs and the plot!
Kaiya's POV
The next day, I woke up slightly early, wielding the yellow mechanical pencil in my hand.
Somehow, Deidara, Tobi, and Kagami had managed to find an exact replica of the one Daichi had given to me in Sugar Top Central. The only different thing about it was the extra rubber duck eraser, which I could not get off for some reason. Nevertheless, it worked well, and was actually kind of cute.
Walking around the sleeping forms of Konan and Pein, I headed towards my desk, the desire to empty out my thoughts onto a sheet of paper burning inside of my mind. Quietly grabbing a sheet of paper, I clicked my pencil, and began to sketch.
At first, I was completely unsure of what the pencil was drawing, but I just let my hand do all of the work. Thin lines eventually became outlines, and from there, I found myself sketching a person.
But until my pencil dropped, I did not know who in the world I was trying to draw off of memory.
When it finally did, I gasped, marveling at how well I seemed to have drawn him.
But then again, my mind reminded me, perhaps it's because you want to prove to Tobi that you're better at drawing his senpai than him. Also, it's not like it's a completely realistic sketch. They're called chibis for a reason.
Despite that, I could easily identify who I had drawn. There was definitely no mistaking that long bang, the high ponytail, or the smirk that I had drawn him wearing.
"Still," I muttered to myself, "Why did I draw a picture of Deidara?"
Perhaps it was from me giving the clay to him on the previous night. Either that, or I was still feeling bad for yelling at him and giving him that death threat.
I stared at my drawing, twitching every time I noticed what a huge space I had left right next to the chibi sketch of Deidara. I wanted to draw something right next to it, but—
Suddenly, an idea hit me like a bullet, and I smirked deviously.
Of course, I grinned to myself as my pencil began moving across the sheet of paper again. Definitely Tobi's "modifications" to Deidara as well…
Copying the chibi sketch of Deidara, I grinned, making sure to draw him in a miniskirt and a dress, just as if he was in a Sailor Moon costume. I gave him some longer eyelashes, eyeshadow, and drew a ton of beads around his ponytail. When I had completed the modified sketch, I wrote the words "Deidei-chan" underneath it, giggling to myself.
Speaking of Deidei-chan, I thought, I think I should go check and see what Deidara is doing. If anything, he would probably get up early as well to practice his art.
Tiptoeing towards the door, I walked out of the room, making sure that Pein and Konan were still asleep. Confirming that they were, I ventured out into the hallway, then headed towards Naoki's room.
I tapped silently on the door, waiting to see if somebody would answer it. When nobody answered, I just shrugged to myself and barged right in.
As I peered inside the room, I gasped.
"Did he—" I started, then immediately trailed off, staring amazedly at the sights in the room.
The container of clay, which sat by Deidara's sleeping bag, was completely empty. Scattered around the room were about forty different figurines, with no two of them looking the same as any of the others. All of them seemed to be shaped from the alabaster-white clay that I had given Deidara.
No way, my mind thought, trying to determine how he managed to create so many wonderful sculptures in such a short amount of time.
Turning to the nearest clay sculpture, I carefully picked it up, trying my best not to damage the fragile creation in any way. It appeared to be what looked like a bird, but I could not determine what kind it was, since it was all white. It was about the size of a cantaloupe.
It looked so real: every detail of the bird was perfectly carved and sculpted, from its eyes to its wings. At one point, my brain was even goading me to stroke it as if it were a live parakeet. I refrained from doing so, only to end up brushing a finger against its back softly.
Examining the bird even more, I vainly attempted to try and see what kind of bird it was. It resembled some sort of...rooster? Thrush? Jay? Eagle? Whatever it was, I didn't know for sure.
Why doesn't Deidara add color to any of them? I wondered, trying to imagine what the bird would look like with splashes of lively and lovely colors. They would honestly look so much better that way, although they do look okay the way they are now. But then again, it would be easier to identify the species they are, rather than just a simple assumption.
A light bulb clicking in my head, I placed the clay bird down gently on top of the empty container, then walked back out of the room. Grinning to myself, I headed back into my room, grabbing the bag that was filled with the paint and paintbrushes that I had bought at the mall on the previous day. Looking into the bag, I analyzed what colors that I had thrown into my bag.
Let's see, I mentally said, pointing towards each bottle as I checked off the colors that I had bought. Bright red, scarlet, orange, yellow, bright yellow, lime, dark green, sky blue, turquoise, cerulean, indigo, violet, lavender, magenta, and pink. A perfect rainbow.
Snickering, I exited my room and closed the door behind me, then prodded back towards my Naoki's room, the bag full of paints clutched tightly in my hands. I dropped the bag right at the door, then rushed into the bathroom to grab a cup of water and a washcloth. Quickly, I returned with both of them, and along with the paint bag, I carried all of the items inside.
As soon as I got inside, I silently closed the door behind me, so that nobody could interrogate me about what in the world I was doing. Once I was sure that nobody else was around, I snatched the clay bird off of where I left it, and whipped out the bright yellow bottle of paint.
Opening the bottle, I placed it on my brother's desk, then reached back into the bag to grab a thin paintbrush. Dipping the tip inside of the paint bottle, I used it to paint a few strokes on the bird's chest, giving it a yellow belly. Taking my brush and dipping it into the yellow bottle again, I began to paint its wing tips, as well as certain parts of its tail. Moving on to the head, I painted its beak, but only dyed a few of its head feathers yellow. Finally, I colored in the bird's feet, leaving only its toes white.
I swirled my paintbrush around in the cup of water, washing off the majority of the paint off of the tip. Drying it with the washcloth, I reached back into my bag, pulling out the bottles that contained bright red, scarlet, and orange. Popping off the caps of each one, I dipped the end of the brush in the orange bottle, I continued to paint the body of the bird.
I think I have a good idea of what this clay birdie can become, I thought to myself. But for now, let's just focus on doing the light colors first, and then the dark colors.
After I finished with the orange paint, I moved on to scarlet, which I painted quite the majority of the rest of the bird with. Whatever part I left white, excluding the toes, I painted bright red.
A phoenix, I mentally said, admiring the fresh coat of paint that I had just given the creation. Definitely looks much better with colors.
Setting the figurine to dry on the washcloth, I grabbed another one, this time of a praying mantis. After taking a few seconds to marvel at its beauty, I took out all of my green paints and let the paintbrush do its work.
Next, I moved on to a butterfly, which I had a lot of fun with. After all, every butterfly definitely needed a pattern consisting of almost every color known to mankind, no matter how strange it looked. So I ended up doing just that.
This process continued for a while, and before I knew it, I had painted almost every single clay sculpture in the room. Around an hour or so had passed, but I hadn't bothered to check the time until I had finished painting the thirtieth or so sculpture. For most of them, my theory had been proven to be correct. Although they had looked lively enough as plain alabaster-white statues, the colors definitely made them seem more lifelike and alive.
I was about to apply a coat of fresh cerulean paint to a cat sculpture when I heard a stunned gasp behind me. Gulping slightly, I turned around, mentally hoping that it was either my brother or Sasori coming in to grab something from the room. But of course, it wasn't either one of them.
"Uh...good morning, Deidara," I nervously greeted. "Nice weather today, really."
Deidara's POV
"What the hell did you do to my art?" I shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Kaiya.
Giggling to herself, she shrugged. "I thought that they could use a little more color. Besides, if they're supposed to explode, you might as well throw in some extra color before they do."
"Still," I growled, "Did you have to vandalize every single one, un? Everything was just fine as plain alabaster-white clay!"
She gasped in disbelief. "You mean...you never paint your own works of art?"
"Of course I don't!" I retorted. "With all the time that I spend perfecting then, do you think that I have the time to paint them all pretty like that? I'm not like your little sister, un!"
Kaiya just continued to snicker. "Oh, come on! Have a little appreciation for colors, Deidei-chan! Everything looks a little better with it, don't you think?"
I raised my fist, clenching it hard. "Will you stop calling me that, Hakaimono?"
At that, Kaiya finally snapped. "What did you just call me, Deidei-chan?"
"I called you a vandal," I told her, trying to calm myself down as much as possible. "Are you deaf, un?"
She sent me a death glare, fury flaring in her brown eyes. "I am not deaf, Deidei-chan! I heard it loud and clear, and I dare you to repeat that nickname again, you idiot!"
"Hakaimono!"
"Deidei-chan!"
"Ticked-off tsundere!"
"Idiotic imbecile!"
"Shut up with the nicknames!" we both shouted at each other in unison. "Will you stop copying me? Leave me alone, will ya?"
Huffing angrily, we turned our backs to one another. It wasn't until ten seconds later did I realize that we had just had a childish argument, but still, I continued to keep my defiant pose. Kaiya, on the other hand…
"Hey, Deidei-chan," she said, trying to change the subject. "Did you make all of this stuff last night?"
Surprised at her sudden question, I shook my head. "No, I went to sleep immediately last night, after you gave me the clay. I woke up early this morning to practice my art again, without worrying about infusing the clay with chakra."
"Incredible," she marveled, picking up a small clay praying mantis that she had painted. "You did all of this within the course of this morning? I couldn't even mold shapes this well if you gave me five months!"
I nodded, smirking. "That praying mantis took around a couple minutes to make, especially when you infuse them with chakra."
"Say," she started, looking at my hands curiously. "I've always wondered...why do you have mouths on your hands?"
I held up both of my hands in response, giving her a clear view of my handmouths. Both of them stuck their little tongues out at her, but she remained unfazed, staring at them with a blank look on her face.
"When I was young," I explained, "I stole a forbidden jutsu from my village in order to make my art even more beautiful, un. The mouths developed as a side effect of the jutsu, but they help me kneed my chakra into clay, so that I can make them explode."
"How does that work?" she asked, examining the handmouths even more. "It actually sounds pretty cool."
My eyes widened in surprise. "Wait...you mean that you're not scared of them?"
Kaiya scoffed. "What's there to be scared of, Deidei-chan? They look pretty interesting, although there are some people that I know that would be completely freaked out by them."
"Really?" I asked, a hint of sarcasm in my voice. "Here, let me show you a little bit about how it works."
Taking a small ball of clay from my pocket, I fed it to one of my handmouths, which immediately began chewing it in order to mold it into different shapes. Kaiya sat up and stared, her eyes slightly wide in awe.
"Like chewing gum," I heard Kaiya say to herself. "But with chakra infusion. I wonder if it has any unique flavor..."
I shook my head. "I can't taste anything through my handmouths. They aren't for eating food, so I only use them to create basic works of art. Plus, that's one of the only ways I can infuse the clay with chakra, aside from the fact that I can apparently discharge chakra into objects as a kitten."
"I guess that's kind of a good thing," she responded. "At least you don't have to worry too much if you those hands accidentally chew on something dangerous for your health."
I nodded. "But anyway, do you want me to show you the full extent of my art?"
She shrugged. "Go ahead, but if it involves blowing things up, then do it outside."
"Fine," I sighed, taking a few of my creations and what seemed to be a painted phoenix and walking out of the room. "Follow me, and you'll see."
Kaiya and I carefully walked down the stairs, heading out onto the balcony, where nobody was. Smirking, I placed down the creations that I had grabbed, though I had tried my best to pick the ones that Kaiya had not painted.
"Okay," I said, grabbing an alabaster-white bird from the pile of creations. "Watch this."
I readied the hand seal, and focused on the chakra flowing through my body. All of a sudden, the little clay bird sprang to life, fluttering its fragile wings before taking off into the sky. Kaiya watched, intrigued.
"How does that work?" she asked. "Was that some sort of magic hand seal or something that you did with your chakra?"
"I guess you could put it that way, un," I answered. "When I focus on the amount of chakra coursing through my body, the bird can spring to life on my command, or just when I think about it doing that. And then, I make it explode using the hand seal."
I grinned, then as the bird flew high into the air, I determined that the sculpture would be too high to damage any property. Focusing my chakra into the hand seal, I shouted, "Katsu!"
The clay bird expanded for a moment, then exploded into a small flurry of sparks. Kaiya clapped her hands in amazement, then turned back to me, stunned.
"Cool!" she said, but she seemed as if she were more glad that it didn't destroy anything, rather than the explosion itself. "Can you do another one?"
Smirking excitedly, I grabbed another clay sculpture — a small spider — and threw it into the air, since it had no wings. Before it began to lose altitude, I formed the hand seal again.
"Katsu!" I yelled, causing the spider to also explode into a shower of colorful sparks. "Art is an explosion!"
"You know," remarked Kaiya, "can your clay creations do anything else? I mean, do they do anything other than explode?"
I thought for a moment, then nodded, grabbing the phoenix that Kaiya had painted. Making a different hand seal, I closed my eyes, and immediately thought of the bird growing larger, while focusing all of my chakra into the hand seal.
A loud poof was heard, followed by the arrival a large cloud of white smoke. Coughing, Kaiya and I fanned away the cloud until it finally dissipated, revealing a rideable version of the phoenix.
Climbing onto the bird's back, I held out a hand to Kaiya. "Well, do you want to get on the phoenix, un? Don't worry, I'm not going to accidentally blow us up in midair!"
"I don't know," Kaiya muttered, crossing her arms. "I don't exactly trust you, an S-rank criminal, with that kind of stuff."
Immediately after, I pouted. "Come on! I'm not all that bad, un! Just hop on and hold on tight!"
Sighing in defeat, Kaiya took my hand and hopped on board, though she shivered slightly.
"Kaiya," I asked her calmly, "are you scared of heights?"
She shook her head. "It's not heights I'm afraid of, Deidei-chan. It's just...I don't want to drive the bird, nor do I feel like having you drive, no offense. Either way, both of us will end up getting killed."
A tick mark appeared on my forehead as I snapped at her angrily. "Hey! Are you forgetting who went to great lengths just to replace your broken pencil?"
Kaiya merely shrugged. "Says the one who blew it up in the first place, causing me to explode into what I believe is my tsundere inner that hates everything."
"Whatever," I growled, focusing my chakra and thinking about letting the phoenix fly free. "Just hold on, okay? That way, you won't fall, and people won't start blaming me for your untimely death."
She growled at me, resulting in me flashing a triumphant smirk. "That is so not cool!"
"You started it," I retorted, just as the bird began taking off. "Try and enjoy the view a little bit, un. Unless you want me to blow everything up around here."
Kaiya scowled. "Alright, I'm sorry. But don't go blowing any property or grass up, okay? I don't want people to start suspecting you of doing something and eventually find out about you guys."
"You're saying that as if I'm not careful," I smirked at her. "I've done this for years, so all you need to do is grab on to the bird's back. Now, let's go!"
And with that, the phoenix lurched forward, surprising Kaiya as it began to take off into the air. Spreading its wings, it lifted itself off of the ground, shocking her even more.
"I'm pretty sure this is magic," she choked out. "Because there's no way that a bird this light can lift two people into the air without even the least bit of difficulty."
I grinned at her proudly. "Ninjas are always finding a way to defy logic, un. Who needs the stuff you're taught in Science when you have this phoenix here?"
"Actually," she muttered, "you still need your brain while flying the bird. What do you think our people are going to think when they see a phoenix flying randomly in the sky, with two people on its back? It definitely won't be 'Oh, a bird with two people on it. Whatever, I'll just leave them be'."
I sighed, then filled my mind with thoughts of the bird flying higher. The phoenix cawed, and I felt our altitude increase.
We zoomed off into the sky, with Kaiya clutching the bird tightly. The phoenix did not seem to mind us at all, and I'm pretty sure that it forgot that we were even there when it suddenly swooped straight down.
I held my breath, used to this feeling, but Kaiya was quite unprepared for the sudden drop. She opened her mouth to scream in terror, but the roaring wind that slapped her made her remain silent. Finally, the bird resumed its straight path, stopping about a hundred feet off of the ground, and she was able to speak again.
"A waterfall!" exclaimed Kaiya, pointing towards a large body of water. "And all those lush trees...it's amazing, Deidei-chan! I'm not sure how far we traveled, but still, I've never seen this place before."
I scowled. "I'm going to drop you down there if you use that nickname one more time."
She grinned mischievously. "Try me, Deidei-chan. Konan and Pein are going to kill you for killing me, so technically, you'll be digging your own grave."
"Whatever," I grumbled. "Hold on, we're going to cut across the waterfall."
"Wait!" she cried, "What about the paint that I—"
"Haven't you noticed that it's freaking dry already, un?" I argued. "If it wasn't, then we would be covered head to toe in paint. Besides, I'm not going to let a little water ruin my artwork that easily! Charge!"
And with that, the phoenix zoomed forward, the left wing neatly slicing through the falls. However, we were still splashed with water, with a ton of it landing on my head.
"Why did I get wetter than you, un?" I scowled, and Kaiya giggled and petted the bird's back.
"I don't know," she answered, snickering. "Good...birdie? Phoenix? I don't know what to call this little fellow. Say, do you ever name your creations?"
I shook my head. "Not really. Usually, I just call them C1 Bird or C1 Spider to save time, since I usually blow them up right after I create them."
"I like this bird," she commented, stroking the bird's featherless back. "Maybe we should give it a name."
"This better not be a thank-you to the bird for dumping a whole bunch of water on me, un," I threatened.
Her eyes widened slightly in mock surprise. "How did you guess, Deidei-chan?"
"Please," I muttered. "I'm an S-rank criminal in the Akatsuki. And besides, you were just teasing me about that a couple minutes ago. But still, I guess I'll leave you to name the phoenix. I'm not good at coming up with names, un."
"How about Akane?" she suggested, and the bird tilted its head curiously at her. "It means 'brilliant red', and most of her body is red, so—"
"Wait," I interrupted. "Why does Akane have to be a girl?"
Kaiya shrugged. "Technically, Akane has no gender, but it feels more natural to call her a girl. After all, Akane is a female name, right?"
I sighed. "Fine, I guess Akane being a female can work."
At that comment, she raised a brow. "Are you saying that a girl means that I'm weak, Deidei-chan? Is that how it works in this world?"
"N-no!" I quickly shook my head. "You're not weak, Kaiya. But I'd wish that you'd quit calling me that, un. I think that idiot Tobi's antics are starting to rub off on you as well."
She scoffed. "Never in a million years, Deidei-chan. And I don't hang that much around Tobi, but my imouto does. If you're going to question somebody about that kind of stuff, blame her. I prefer to be sassy than annoyingly playful."
Akane raised her head at us, puzzled about what in the world her two passengers were talking about. Looking at the bird suddenly reminded me of a question that I had asked weeks ago, but had never received an answer to.
"Say, Kaiya," I began, "I don't think that you have answered this question that I had asked you weeks."
"Oh?" she questioned, her ears perking up. "I guess I can answer that question now, since you're the only person around here who can hear me, unless Sasori has stretchable ears and is currently stalking us."
I let out a giggle before continuing. "Not likely...hopefully. So then, Kaiya, what is your opinion on the meaning of true art?"
"Where do I start?" she said to herself, before beginning. "True art...what is it, really? What, art thou, is true—"
"You can just be straightforward about it, un," I interrupted her before she could ramble on. "Don't go all Shakespeare on me. I swear, old English ruins my brain."
Kaiya huffed. "Fine. I believe that true art really is…"
What? my mind thought frantically as I listened to her speak. Something fleeting? Something eternal? Oh Kami, I just hope that it's the first one…
"...whatever you want it to be," she finished, causing me to look at her in astonishment.
"Huh?" I inquired, since I had been expecting her to say one or the other. "What do you mean by that?"
She smiled. "Have you and Sasori ever thought about what it would be like if you combine your different art styles for once? Think of Sasori as a person who likes to draw swirls: something that goes around forever and won't stop until you let it. And then, you could be the artist of pointed yellow stars: you start at one point, but since it's a star, it will eventually come back to the point where you started, and therefore cannot be endless. Although both are very pretty and fascinating, I bet that more people would want to look at mixes of both swirls and stars together on the same sheet of paper. As long as it makes them happy, I think either art style or combination is completely fine."
I took all of this information in, keeping mental notes of it, should Sasori and I encounter another strong enemy. "Honestly, I never really thought about it that way, Kaiya."
"It felt like more of a philosophical topic to me," she admitted. "But in actuality, I was leaning more towards your opinion about true art. It does sound kind of logical that art is something that lasts only for a moment."
My eyes widened upon hearing this. "You...are you saying that you're actually agreeing with my point of view?"
She nodded. "If you really think about it, nothing can truly last forever. A stick can easily be snapped in two. Everything that breathes will eventually die. Sasori's wooden puppets will rot one day, even if it takes over a thousand years to do so. Even something as wondrous as the sun will only last a few more billion years before it will die as well. Besides, if everything was eternal, then what fun would life be, honestly? It's not very exciting if you're guaranteed to remain unhurt by your actions. There would be no death, but there wouldn't be any fireworks, either. Or feelings for anything, since there is no point in caring for somebody if you know that they're going to live forever."
"That is quite a profound input," I remarked. "But what do you think Sasori-danna might say about that if he hears you say that?"
"Stop worrying about what he says about you and your art," she answered truthfully. "I don't care what other people say about my opinion, not even Sasori. But Deidara, you are undoubtedly the best artist that I have ever met."
After hearing that, I could no longer find the right words to speak. Actually, they had robbed me of my ability to even breathe for a little while, but luckily, I was able to speak and breathe again around thirty very awkward seconds later.
"Six years…" I subconsciously muttered.
"What did you say?" Kaiya questioned, tilting her head to the side slightly.
"I said six years," I replied, my eyes still wide. "Six years since anybody has told me that. You...Kaiya, you have no idea how much that means to me, as an aspiring artist who intends to—"
"Seek world domination and blow up everything," she finished with a smirk. "Yeah, I can tell by the way you smile maniacally whenever you blow up something. But still, you're welcome, Deidara. I meant what I said, really."
I wanted to respond, but I just sat there, a blank look on my face. Even when she turned away to focus on where Akane was taking us, I continued to stare at her, dazed by what she had just said.
She likes...my art? I thought, still confused. Better than Sasori's?
Everywhere I went with the puppet boy, a couple of our enemies had remarked on how cool his puppets were. Not a single one really seemed to care about my clay sculptures, but then again, maybe it was because I kept on blowing them up before they could say anything.
"Akane," commanded Kaiya suddenly, jolting me out of my thoughts. "I think we're going too far away. Do you know the way back home?"
Surprisingly, the phoenix nodded, and she zoomed back towards the direction where we had flown from. I grabbed onto the bird's back, holding on tightly as we flew back to the house at what seemed to be supersonic speeds.
About five minutes later, we were back on our balcony, where both of us immediately heaved sighs of relief.
"How did you manage to control Akane?" I asked, eying Kaiya oddly. "My creations have never obeyed another person's orders before."
She shrugged. "Maybe Akane is a free spirit. Perhaps she can do what she wants to, or maybe it's just the paint. After all, simple splashes of color improve everything in this world."
"Keep her," I told Kaiya, surprising the girl and the phoenix slightly.
"Wait, why?" she inquired. "Aren't you going to blow her up, like you do to all of your other creations?"
I shook my head. "Akane seems to behave very differently, compared to all of my other creations. She's the only one with a mind of her own, really. But maybe it is just the paint...either that, or she just really likes you."
She smiled at me again. "Well, maybe it's both. I'm sorry if I ruined everything with the paint, Deidara."
"You didn't ruin anything," I reassured her. "You just surprised me a little, that's all. But still, technically you still are a Hakaimono for barging into the room and painting my property without permission."
In response, she just smirked. "Then, in that case, you are still Deidei-chan to me."
I growled at her. "Hey! But then again, I guess it can't be helped, can it?"
She shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. But now that we're home, I'm going to go do some homework with my two otoutos. Have fun with your art, Deidara, and good luck."
Sending me one last smile, she walked back inside the house. However, I just stood there, wondering why my expression was completely blank and why my pulse seemed to be accelerating as more seconds of silence passed by.
Why? I thought, placing a hand to my chest. Why is this happening to me? What is this unfamiliar feeling inside?
Even during that night, part of me felt uneasy, with my mind still trying to register what was going on. A pale shade of pink was splashed across my cheeks, which felt rather odd. Sighing to myself, I threw my covers over myself, praying silently that it would quell the beating of my heart.
But even when I tried to fall asleep in the comfort of my sleeping bag in Naoki's room, the feeling would not stop going away. My heart was still beating rapidly, recalling Kaiya's words from earlier.
Deidara, you are undoubtedly the best artist that I have ever met.
It sounded too truthful to be flattery. Although it seemed unreal that Kaiya was actually complimenting me for once and not teasing me, she had said it. Like fruit, the memory of her words remained fresh in my mind.
No, I thought to myself quickly, trying vainly to rid my mind of any thoughts about her. Kaiya likes Daichi...and I'm pretty sure that he returns her feelings. We're even setting up a date for the two of them tomorrow. There's no way this can be happening now.
I shook my head over and over again, eventually earning the attention of Sasori, who seemed to always pretend to sleep.
"Are you okay, brat?" he asked emotionlessly. "You look like you're about to freak out of something."
Nervously, I rubbed the back of my head, not willing to tell him about what I was feeling...if I was even feeling it. "It's nothing, danna. I'm just having trouble sleeping, un."
"Your choice," Sasori muttered before laying down to rest on his pillow. A minute later, I was able to close my eyes, but still couldn't lock out the fact that somebody had finally appreciated my view of art, even though she had supported a small part of Sasori's view as well.
Deidara, you are undoubtedly the best artist that I have ever met.
Deidara, you are undoubtedly the best artist...
Deidara, you are undoubtedly the best…
The best…
Best…
Her words would absolutely not stop echoing throughout my head. Tossing and turning, I attempted to clear my mind once more, but to no avail. It would have been easier if I had more clay on me, but I had already used all of mine to show Kaiya my opinion of true art. Even the tiniest C1 bird would have been so comforting to watch tweet over and over, until it finally burst into a blast of color, filling my head with the memory of it.
I couldn't be starting to actually like Kaiya, could I?
A/N: See, Deidara? It's about time that you finally realized it. It took you only...twenty-eight or so chapters. But then again, this should have been the Valentine's Day chapter...
Thank you all soooo much for 4,700 views on this one story, as well as 80 reviews!
Question: Do you prefer to draw or write? I don't know about this one, but I think I have a strong preference for writing. My OCD comes out so much whenever I try to draw fanart or anything else.
Until next time!
— Tenshi —
