THURSDAY | 01/09/2020

Kakuzu was left without a lab partner, just how he liked it. Working with another soul only ever made him fall behind. He knew his brother was smarter than he let on, but...being stuck with him was definitely going to slow that girl down. He talked too much, got into too much shit, and was just unfocused in general. Of course, he didn't care about the girl's progress in the class, only his brother's. He would simply keep an eye on them from a distance, nudging Hidan in the right direction if the need arose.

"We'll start dissection next week, starting with a worm." Umino had the class write down the pages they were going to need to study beforehand in order to perform the procedure properly. "We will be dissecting one new animal every other week! You will need to study properly since I won't be holding your hand on the matter. I will give one demonstration a few days before, but that's it! Hidan, are you listening?" Hidan looked up from his phone.

"Uh, yeah. Keep going."

Umino looked annoyed but continued speaking. Kakuzu pinched the bridge of his nose, trying his hardest to not let out an exasperated sigh.

"Of course, the AP Bio exam will have more than just this information on it. We will take days to study past exams and such. I believe you can all score a four or five on it if you'd pay attention to me when I'm speaking!" Hidan let out a nervous laugh and hastily put his phone away. Eve briefly looked at him with concern before looking back at their teacher with her full attention. Umino was tightly gripping a book in anger but continued speaking once again, no more interruptions.

Eve couldn't help but notice that Hidan was looking at his phone a bit too much during their last class together. He looked worried, but it was none of her business. Everyone goes through stuff, and she was sure he'd get through whatever was bothering him.

It was heavily snowing when all the students were finally released from their final classes.

The speakers let out loud static, a muffled voice, then what sounded like Mr. Namikaze's voice.

"Students, if you are driving home, we request that you wait at least half an hour before trying to drive in this weather. It's too dangerous. Students taking the bus must wait as well. The storm should die down by then." Eve simply sat down in the cafeteria, staring at the clock on the wall that read three-thirty.

"Hey, you taking the bus?" Konan sat down next to her.

"The public one, yeah. Not sure if those are down though."

"Probably best you wait here anyway. Winter is obnoxious, I want spring already."

Eve stared out the window as the snow blew in multiple directions, hardly able to see across the street. "It's still pretty to me," Eve replied softly.

"Yeah, maybe in December," Konan looked around, spotting Kisame and Yahiko. She beckoned for them to come over. Kisame was wearing a varsity jacket, Eve noticed.

"Hey Eve!" Yahiko waved, smiling.

"Hi..." she shyly replied, not expecting them to acknowledge her existence.

"Have you guys seen Hidan or Kuzu? Surely they didn't go out anyway..."

Kisame scoffed. "Hidan's dumb but Kakuzu wouldn't just let him drive the both of them out in that weather. He does want to live, probably."

"Thirty minutes, what a drag," a passing voice said. Seems like everyone was annoyed. Eve sat at the edge of the table, folding her cold hands in her lap. Surely, they were just at another part of the school?

"What about Deidara?" Eve found herself asking despite barely knowing him.

"He normally stays after anyway. The art teacher lets 'im," Kisame grinned. "He's always doin' something in that art room."

"Oh. I see..." Eve had a bad feeling. "I'm going to the restroom. Konan...could you please watch my stuff?" she smiled sheepishly. Konan blinked.

"Sure thing."

Kisame and Yahiko looked at her slowly disappear into the crowd, the latter crossing his arms.

Eve scanned every student as quickly as she possibly could, looking for the albino and his grumpy brother. Why was she so worried? She shook off the doubt and continued looking. Her absolute last resort was looking outside, which of course, she had come to. She was being an idiot, she already knew that, but Hidan was somehow a bigger idiot than she was—she picked that up from the few times they'd interacted.

"Hey." a deep voice behind her as she was about to open one of the school's side doors startled her. Turning around, Kakuzu towered over her, his expression stern. "Have you seen Hidan in here?"

"No, I was about to..."

"That god damn idiot-" He moved her aside with his arm before going out into the blizzard. He had no coat on, neither did she. Should she simply leave this to him? She was aware that the door would most likely lock once she was out there, and no one would let her back in. The bad feeling wasn't fading, so she went out anyway, the cold wind blowing directly into her face, messing her hair up. A sounding click of the lock made her realize how stupid she was. Well, too late.

Scanning the parking lot, no one was in her line of sight, though it was hard to see her own hand in front of her face. She shakily took her phone out, dialing the number Hidan had written down earlier; she thanked her photographic memory. Eve held the phone to her ear, waiting for him to pick up.

"'Sup?"

"Y-you aren't supposed to be driving!" Eve yelled into her phone.

"That's not really any of your business, girlie. I need to be home. Tell Kakuzu he should probably get a ride from one of our friends. Konan'll probably help him," he hung up. She stared at her phone in disbelief. What could be so important he needed to drive in this weather?!

"He's gone, isn't he." Kakuzu's voice didn't startle her this time. "I'll kill him." He muttered angrily. She put her phone back into her jean pocket, holding herself for warmth while leaning against the building. The taller boy did the same, though far away from her. "Why did you even try to find him? You don't even know him."

Eve looked to the ground, sadly. "He seemed off in class today."

"That doesn't mean you get to barge into our business."

"I—I wasn't...trying to intrude—"

"Keep to your damn self. Now look at you, stuck outside when you don't need to be."

Eve stayed silent after that. He was right, she was stupid for even thinking she could help. She also locked him out.

Kakuzu bit the inside of his cheek. She was only worried about a classmate, and he still yelled at her. He yelled at her a lot recently. Their first conversation was a fight. Somehow, it didn't sit right with him. Of course, he was too stubborn to ever try and fix that. His eyes wandered to the smaller girl standing a few meters away from him, shivering to death. Her nose, cheeks and fingertips were all red as can be. He frowned. They'd been out there for twenty minutes by now, and judging by her body mass, she might die in about another twenty. "Come on."

"H-huh?" she wearily said before he dragged her to the front of the building. He knocked loudly, having a feeling no one would hear them. Everyone was in the cafeteria, but his pride wouldn't let him go to one of those doors.

And yet, a familiar blonde head came from a hallway. Kakuzu knocked louder, trying to get Deidara's attention. He looked at the pair, shock apparent on his face. He quickly set down the art he was working on and jogged over to the door, letting both of them into the warm building.

"What the hell were you two doing out there?" He asked in disbelief.

"Hidan's an awful driver, and in the snow, he's even worse. I'm just betting on the fact that no one is as dumb as him and no one else is on the damn road." Kakuzu narrowed his eyes. "He was in a hurry." Eve felt tingly all over from the sudden atmosphere change.

"She looks like she's about to die." Deidara pointed out with a smile on his face. Kakuzu looked back at the girl as she looked like she was about to keel over.

"We weren't out there that long, what the hell is wrong—" she fell over onto her knees, hand on her forehead.

"Sorry...it's not the cold. I just haven't..." She tightened her fists. "I'm fine." Deidara held out a hand, helping her up.

"Man, you're freezing, hm. The teachers are gonna be pissed if they see the two of you like this."

"You think I don't know that!" Kakuzu growled, wiping as much snow off of him as he could. He couldn't be under the principal's radar, not again. His round glasses fogged up, annoying him further. He ripped them off, folding them up and keeping them in his hands for the time being.

"Alright, it's safe for students to start going home, you're dismissed." Eve tiredly looked behind them, seeing the blizzard had turned into a light snowfall. Of course.

"There you guys are! I knew you weren't going to the bathroom!" Konan was holding all her bags, somehow not breaking a sweat. "You look awful."

"Thanks." Eve muttered, taking her bags.

"So, was Hidan..?"

"Yeah." Kakuzu sighed. Eve's phone went off, and everyone looked at her expectantly. She looked down at it, seeing Hidan's number and a text underneath it.

I'm home, you can all stop freaking the fuck out now :)

"This bastard has the nerve to text her instead of me..." Kakuzu gripped her phone tightly, she was afraid it might shatter. His eyebrow twitched.

"Do the two of you need a ride home? Eve, turns out your bus left thirty minutes ago. Guess you were exempt from the waiting." Konan smiled. "So, Kakuzu?"

"Yeah," he replied, sounding like he was at his wit's end. Eve supposed she would be too if she was Hidan's sibling.