-J-

37: In Which Our Rude Jibes

Sunday part 10 (Dec 19)

It was quite possible that the shock of the moment was getting to May, she realized as she met those cold green eyes that belonged only to Gwen… she couldn't breathe, everything seemed to have numbed at the sight of the brunette in front of May; a thousand years past in those seconds as May tried to open her mouth to say something, but nothing was moving correctly and the tongue felt like it were made out of lead.

Gwen had left only last week to go off to college early to make sure everything was planned and ready for her first days, May had been personally happy to see her go; even with this happiness May had had no clue what to think on the matter that was her and Gwen. It was a hot and cold subject that could make May mad one second and sad the next, she tried to not care about it since she was use to loses in life… but she was a human being and she still had yet to decide her thoughts on the matter.

Now the entire situation had changed once more, it was now completely obvious to May that Gwen despised her and had never cherished their friendship…. that was…..it was what? She had no clue how to deal with this situation, there were so many possibilities. From what May could make out, Gwen had obviously said something to rile up Kisame's group to the extent of the fight, so she obviously hadn't been saying how much May actually meant to her….that thought hurt.

May's head was reeling from the overtake of the information but she knew she had to get over it soon, only a second had passed but she had to decide what to do.

May had no clue what to do actually.

"... Gwen, seems you never change; still as talkative as ever, aren't you?" May had to grit her teeth at the sick feeling she got from just saying the name of the girl in front of her.

Gwen pursed her lips as if she was also thinking of the situation they now found themselves in. But she quickly passed a sickening sweet smile on top of her bright lips.

Their focus was so mainly on each other that they hadn't noticed that the fighting around them had stopped and some of them seemed in shock from the starting of the conversation.

"Tobi thought they actually didn't know each other…" Tobi whimpered next to Kisame, Hidan, and Deidara who were all sitting atop the men they had successfully knocked unconscious. Deidara nodded his agreement, placing a hand on chin trying to think if he had ever seen this 'Gwen' before in his life-he couldn't remember a time he had seen her with May; this irked him very much. Kisame had personally thought that May would cry or run off like some girls he had seen in the past, but she just stood there with straight-lined lips that gave no detection of moving anytime soon.

"You to, May. You haven't changed a bit I see," Gwen strained her eyes at May, looking up and down her front with a frown that quietly turned to a smile. "actually, I think you might have gained a few more pounds." May tensed her hand angrily, she really wanted to snap at the girl, tell her to shut up but she held her mouth shut by clamping her teeth tightly into her tongue. May hated when the 'weight' subject was brought up, she had hated it when her mother brought it up and she still hated it.

Hidan bared his teeth, angrily stomping around the others to go and shut the girl up by slamming his fist into her face like Kisame had done only minutes before to the other girl, but he'd do it so hard that she wouldn't be moving ever again.

Hidan's mad walk over to Gwen was stopped quite quickly, looked back to his shoulder where a hand lay holding him back with a shaking grip, his eyes looked up to meet May's. He could see the hurt and the anger pulsing through them and quietly backed down.

"Talking about me rudely won't get you anywhere Gwen. Personally I don't really care but you shouldn't make yourself come down to under my level by spreading useless gossip. I am not a fan of sluts spreading rumors about me, good or bad." It was the only word that May could think of that would really send it all the way home for Gwen. May really just wanted to get out of here, it was awkward and she was unsure of what to do in this situation.

Sasori shook his head just as he noticed that Gwen was going to retort something back, her face reddening even with the large amount of make up that was pressed to her cheeks and chin; he really didn't want to know what the girl would come up with next… all he knew was that the comment would end up hurting May, he couldn't have that.

With a tiny smile Sasori stepped up and placed a warm hand on May's shoulder, he could feel her tense at the movement. Sasori frowned as he felt the slight trembling of the body next to him, it hadn't been obvious to the eye but now he felt those vibrations and couldn't tell if they were because May was angry or scared, of course May didn't even know either.

Smiling as May turned her head to look at him, Sasori glanced his eyes up to Gwen's.

"Don't ever insult our May, she doesn't deserve it from anyone, least of all you, brat." Sasori kept the small smirk on his face as he maneuvered to May's side and threw his arm over her shoulder, holding May to his side which she gratefully rested in. "Now, run along." He did a downward wave to Gwen that showed he wanted her to leave and his eyes told her to never even come within 50 miles of May again.

If Gwen had been mad before, this was nothing to compare it to now; eyes flashing she grit her teeth but as her eyes raked the group that surrounded May on all sides she realized she would not be winning this fight. Gwen cocked an eyebrow that went unnoticed by the others, where the hell had May gotten these freaky bodyguards? Was it even possibly for May to make friends...no she was probably just paying them. The thought caused Gwen to smile before turning on her heel, Cass and the other girl had fled long before this moment which Gwen quickly noted before beginning her walk out of the store.

But before Gwen could walk out the door she stopped, only ten feet from them.

"Hmm, seems you have changed May...we'll just have to see if it is for better...or for worse."

Never in all my life had I actually witnessed Gwen's cold personality one on one, sure I had seen her before protect me from bullies with her venomous tongue that certainly had never learned to keep itself under lock and key.

When I had had nothing to do with the outside world after Marcus left me, Gwen had come over everyday to make sure I was still alive and would even bring over dinner. She had stepped up a little after Jo had told her about me, we originally had had nothing to do with each other..probably because I was the one always studying and she was the party girl, a geek and partier...I never would have thought we would work together.

Well until the first day she came after Marcus disappeared from the face of the earth, ever since then it felt as if I owed her and we just built the friendship up on that. Now, when I look back, I still cannot tell if she had ever meant any of it, that hurt.

But I would get over it, I could add another word to me list of growing problems that were definitely rising.

The arm Sasori had placed atop my shoulders was still there, a dim reminder of what he had said concerning myself. He had said 'ours', the single word made me feel like I had felt only fifteen minutes ago when Kakuzu had said my eyes were also pretty.

Embarrassment was lacing through my stomach and twisting up into my lungs and choking the tubes that connected to the back of my mouth, breathing was suddenly hard as the hair on the back of my neck seemed to suddenly become sensitive and could feel the way the cloth past over the tips of each individual hair.

I knew very well that the Akatsuki were more than just manga characters or anime characters now, they were more so family to me. A family of murders….that made me wanna smile actually. I certainly cared for them, probably more than I should actually but I did none the less. They cared for me to even though I was certain it wasn't… extensive emotions, well besides Hidan who definitely had sexual tension bunched up inside.

Gwen had said I had gained weight and suddenly I could feel the weight of the words actually resting around my stomach and waist as if the words themselves had accumulated into the weight she had called out.

It took a second for me to realize that while I had been up deep into my thoughts, that Sasori was looking at me from the corner of his left eye, that brown red orb was glinting slightly as it caught my gaze brightening as I returned from the journey of the inner mind.

Biting a new groove into my lip I slipped away from Sasori and turned to look at the Akatsuki who stood in front of me.

Jared and his men must have split while Gwen had retreated because Deidara, Hidan, Tobi, and Kisame were now just standing there clearly waiting for her to say something.

"I don't really know...what happened.." Saliva left my mouth as I stared at Kisame's group, directing my words their way. "And I expect you four to explain later, but for now...thank you." As the words left my mouth I was actually surprised by the actions of the four I had just complimented.

Hidan smirked under his breath, placing his arms behind his head to cradle it, casting his gaze up to the ceiling as if thanking some deity up there.

Deidara pushed his lips together and looked opposite of the ground, his eyes boring into the ground as if he was embarrassed by my words.

Kisame blinked with a small smile before nodding his head towards me, obviously staying quiet for some reason.

Tobi, well this was Tobi we were talking about here, jumped up and down with a loud squeal before literally jumping me with a huge hug.

All air ceased in those already numb lungs of mine as Tobi's arms came around me and wrapped my poor body as tightly as he could around mine. Tobi continued his slight jumping as he giggled it wasn't until he had stopped when I realized he was tracing his fingers up and down my spine, the others had no clue because my back was facing away from them. I couldn't help the slight widening of my blue eyes and the forced swallow of spit.

Was it just me or did these guys get...stranger?

Taking a quick look at the others I realized that Sasori was giving a complete death glare to Tobi, his eyes not worth blinking as he did so, his fists clenched slightly as he stared with so little emotion that I could have sworn he had turned to stone….unless that was something normal for him? Had they begun to gain their abilities back or was this just...something else?

"I'll have to find out about these guys later...I have no clue what I'm dealing with here." The mental sigh was unstoppable but the sigh of actual air was satisfying when Tobi finally released my body from his death grip.

At this second I did not want to be Tobi, as he made his way back to the group I barely noticed Hidan pinching Tobi on his arm who did a loud gasp. Sadly I didn't call them out on it because my eyes had caught sight of Pain.

The entire day, Pain had been acting strange. Fainting, falling over, not wanting to actually walk, sitting like he was dead… it was not normal for the Pain I knew. Pain was in the back of the group, leaning his body against a pillar his chest rising weirdly, one second it would be slow like a ticking clock and the next it would rapidly speed up. What struck me as truly weird was his hair, it was usually spiked up in every direction in such a natural way that I never doubted it but now...it was longer and draping around his much leaner face like a curtain, and the hair, it had a definite red tint to it.

Just as Pain's eyes rolled back into his head I shot forward and caught him by the shoulder just as he fainted and slumped against me with a low grunt.

My eyes widened in shock.

What was going on?
"Pain?"

The others were crowding around me in what seemed to be shock.

"Help me." It was a simple demand that was quickly followed.

I was scared, what the hell was happening?

Placing a hand on Pain's back I forced myself to try and stand, Kakuzu on my right catching my elbow to help me stand straight.

Something in my stomach began to hurt, it was like something inside was pinching….something was wrong, very wrong.