A/N: Hello again! I'm alive :p I think.
The summer heat begins to fade, as we slowly crawl into Autumn. August turns into September, and things begin to cool down.
I haven't spoken to Itachi in a while. I've crossed paths with him, but my eyes would fall to the floor and I'd ignore him. After several times of being ignored, he stopped trying to strike up a conversation, leaving a sour taste in my mouth.
I'm sat alone in Izumi's office. She's busy in court working on a case which is hopefully drawing to a close. The case is rather messy, with several different allegations being thrown about and a child's welfare at risk. I can't wait for the case to be filed away.
Since over a month has passed since Itachi went public with his relationship, the press has forgotten about me, much to Rin's dismay. I can walk to the shops and not be chased around by paparazzi asking for a story.
My short five minutes of fame are up, and I'm quite happy. Life is back to how it should be, quiet and peaceful. However, I can't help but miss a particular person who brought colour to my dreary world.
Izumi bursts into the office several hours later, her hair dishevelled and her face drained of all colour. She looks exhausted.
"That was the worst case I've ever done." She exclaims and she stumbles over to her desk. She slumps down into her chair and leans back in it. She leans back in her chair and pulls her hair out of her ponytail, letting it all hang loosely. She lets out a long breath and shuts her eyes.
"Is it over?" Izumi nods weakly in reply.
"Thank God. The kid's in good hands too, and his father has been given a prison sentence." She replies, her voice weak and strained.
"What about the mother?"
"She's getting help, and her mother is looking after her son until she's better."
"Good. I'm glad." I let out a sigh of relief. I was so worried that things wouldn't end well for them. This is probably the best outcome for the situation.
"I'll be going home shortly, you can too if you want." Izumi tells me. I nod, but I know I'll be staying here until my work day ends. I can understand why Izumi is going home, but I'm fine enough to carry on working. Plus, if I finish early I'll only have more work to do tomorrow.
"You still haven't spoken to Itachi, you really should. You shouldn't let your friendship end like this, please let him explain." Izumi begs as she gathers her stuff. Her voice is full of desperation, she flashes a weak smile at me. "He'll be in his office as usual, or send him an e-mail. Anything. Just please talk to him."
Izumi leaves the office without another word and I open up a new e-mail. I type in Itachi's address and my fingers hover over the keys.
What do I say?
I discard the e-mail, and return to working.
LNLN
I flick through the channels on TV, nothing piquing my interest. I let out a sigh and turn the TV off in a huff.
I throw the controller on the coffee table and lay on the sofa, hugging a cushion to my chest. I let my thoughts consume me.
Izumi's words flash through my mind, and I debate whether I should just talk to him.
I'm behaving like such a child, what does he think of me now? There's no way I can save the friendship we had. I cover my face with the cushion.
I feel so helpless and hopeless. I've never really had to deal with this before, I'm quite inexperienced when it comes to guys. I'm nothing like Rin, I've never had boys falling at my feet and asking for dates. I just had Hajime, and that didn't exactly end nicely at all.
My doorbell rings and I let out a groan in protest. I glance at my clock and see that it's seven in the evening. Why is someone here at this time? It can't be Yuki, she always calls and gives me a warning "just in case I have a guy over".
I stand up from my comfortable prison, tossing the cushion aside. I stomp over to the front door and open it, only to be surprised when my eyes take in who's standing outside my apartment.
Standing a few inches taller than me, black hair tied back effortlessly as usual, a clean suit, gorgeous eyes.
My eyes widen and I feel my face heat up.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Except this particular devil is more like an angel, which I'd be too embarrassed to admit out loud.
"We need to talk." His black eyes stare straight at me, his face void of emotion. I nod slightly and step out of the way of the door, I beckon him inside and I close the door behind him.
He sits on one end of my sofa, body rigid and his eyes scanning the room. I sit down on the other end, placing one leg over the other. I wrap my arms around my body and try to relax into the sofa.
"So…" My voice trails off and I wince. I look around my very familiar living room, trying my best to not let my eyes fall onto the gorgeous human being next to me.
"Why have you been avoiding me?" He asks suddenly. His voice is monotonous, his tone not betraying how he feels. My eyes wander over to him, and our eyes meet. My heartbeat stutters for a moment. Blood rushes to my face and my heart begins to race.
I look away, feeling ashamed of my actions. My gaze falls down to my lap, my hair falling and creating a barrier between me and Itachi, stopping his gaze from piercing my soul.
"I feel betrayed." I mutter. "Why didn't you ever tell me? Do you not trust me?" My voice quivers embarrassingly. My eyes begin to water and I keep my gaze locked onto my lap. I couldn't bare for him to see me like this. I'm pathetic.
"It's not that, I couldn't tell anyone. My parents, my father in particular, made me agree to keep the relationship as quiet as possible. Only Izumi and Shisui were aware of it." He says quietly. I peek at him and see that his eyes are locked on his hands, an unreadable expression flashes across his face. Guilt maybe?
"Oh." I stare down at my lap again. The tension between us is strong, making the atmosphere ever so uncomfortable. There's something between us, and I can't put my finger on it. I'm desperate to reach over and touch him, comfort him, make his pained expression go away. Anything. It takes everything I have to not act on my deepest desires. He's taken, I can't do anything that would compromise that and whatever is left between us.
I take a deep breath. "Does that mean you cheated back then… when we… when we…" I say quietly. My face somehow heating up more. I bite my lip and anxiously wait for his reply.
"No. We were on a break, we had a nasty argument and broke up. We got back together a few days later. She knows, she's cool with it." The mention of her bites uncomfortable at my already wounded heart. I clench my hands into fits, my nails cutting into my palms. I bite the inside of my cheeks.
"Oh. That's good then." I mumble. "I don't agree with cheating." Itachi stands up from the sofa and I look up at him. His expression is neutral.
"I need to get home before people start to wonder where I am." He says, his eyes avoid mine and I watch as they dart around my living room.
I nod and stand up. We walk over to the front door and I reach out to open the door for him. A slender hand grasps mine and I'm tugged around. My eyes widen as Itachi moves closer to me. My heart begins to stutter and my breath gets stuck in my throat. His arms wrap around my torso and I'm pulled into him. I wrap my arms around him and rest my face against his chest.
His scent fills my nose, and his warmth envelopes me.
I swear my heart stopped beating.
The hug doesn't last long enough, and he pulls away from me. His warmth noticeable absent. I shakily open the front door for him, avoiding eye contact and praying he doesn't notice how red my face is.
The room is enveloping me in warmth that's starting to become a little bit too uncomfortable. My face feels like it's on fire and I can hear my heart pounding in my ears.
"Thank you for letting me talk to you." Itachi says as he steps out of my flat. I nod, keeping my eyes locked onto the floor. I think I'd die if I let him see how flustered I am. I already want the floor to swallow me whole as it is, but if he knew I was feeling this way I'd want to be erased from existence.
"You're welcome, Uchiha-san." I say politely. My voice trembling ever so slightly. My heart continues to beat violently in my chest and I pray that Itachi can't hear it. I peek up at him through my hair, Itachi's face is turned away from me too.
"Bye, Hanakawa-san." His voice is quiet and full of an emotion I can't capture and understand. He makes his way down the stairs, not looking back at me.
I shut my front door and fall to my knees, with my face buried in my hands.
LNLN
"I'm so proud of you!" Izumi says cheerfully as she enters her office. She heads over to her desk and starts rooting through her drawers. I look at her quizzically and she laughs. "You're friends with Itachi! I'm glad you two managed to sort it out. Did he tell you anything?"
"Just that he didn't cheat, that they were on a break. He explained why he never told me about it." I reply and she nods. Her eyes move to the floor and she sighs.
"I'm glad he told you the truth." I can't help but notice her voice sounds strained. "Anyway, I have a court hearing this morning. I'll see you at lunch time." She pulls out a file from her drawer and makes her way to the door. "Oh, by the way, Itachi and I are going out for a meal after work, you're invited." With that, she leaves the room; not waiting for my reply. My mouth falls open and I stare at the door in shock, before shaking my head and tending to the work that had piled up overnight.
It doesn't seem like I have a choice, and I don't quite know how to feel about it; so, I continue to stare at the door in silence.
The work day passes by uneventfully as usual, by the end of the day Izumi forcefully drags me out of the office and towards her car. I reluctantly stop trying to pull my arm free and let her take me to where she pleases, it seems that any fight I put up will be a losing one. Her mind is made, there's no use trying to resist.
Eventually, we arrive at a small restaurant that's in the outskirts of the city. Most tables are occupied, which I think is what was expected and wanted. I'm quite certain that this is a very well planned and thought out publicity stunt.
Itachi gives his details and we're lead to a quiet area towards the back of the restaurant, but there's still quite a few people sitting at tables and eating food.
When we reach the table, Itachi sits down in the seat closest to the wall and then Izumi pushes me towards the seat next to him before sitting in the seat opposite us. I narrow my eyes at her, only for her to flash a not-so-innocent smile back.
"So," Izumi begins with a mischievous glint in her eyes and a coy smile tainting her lips. "You two are friends now, right?"
"Yes. I told you this earlier when you came barging into my office." Itachi says curtly. I look at him and see his black eyes are staring straight at Izumi, his gaze most likely trying to figure out the intentions behind her actions. My eyes flicker over to Izumi and she's staring straight at me.
"I was more asking for conformation from Akira-san. She didn't exactly confirm it this morning." Her eyes continue to bore into mine and I squirm uncomfortably under her interrogating gaze.
"Uh… I didn't think I needed to confirm it." My eyes move to Itachi and then back to Izumi. "But yeah, I guess we're friends now." I reply. Izumi beams at my reply.
"Fantastic!" She exclaims before grabbing the menu placed down in front of her. "Now… what do I fancy eating?" She mumbles to herself as she glances over the possible options.
I copy her actions and pick up the menu in front of me. After scanning the first page of meal options, I realise how expensive it is. So, I pick the cheapest option available which is still too expensive for my liking. What is it with Uchiha and expensive restaurants?
Soon the waiter arrives to take our orders before leaving us on our own once more.
Unable to bear the silence, Izumi breaks it. "So, Itachi. How's Tsubaki-chan?" I notice Itachi's eyes widen at her question before he resumes his usual expression.
"Fine. Fine." He says in response. His eyes scanning Izumi's face once more.
Izumi smiles at his reply, her eyes glowing happily. "Did you tell Akira-san about how you two met?"
"No." Itachi says abruptly. His black eyes glare at Izumi. I stare at the two quizzically, trying to get a sense of what is going on. What's wrong with telling me how they met? Is it something I shouldn't know about? "Drop it, Izumi. Now is not the time."
Izumi's face falls and she grumbles something under her breath.
"Uh… how were your days at work?" I ask awkwardly, trying to shift the conversation elsewhere.
The rest of the meal was full of small-talk, none of us sure of what to say. I also get the feeling that Itachi isn't being entirely truthful, he's not giving anything away though. Izumi is though, she's hinting at something but she's so vague I can't figure out what it is.
LNLN
Itachi has been spotted out with Akira Hanakawa again!
We all thought that Itachi had forgotten entirely about his friend Akira, but it turns out that they're still in contact and have been for a while. All month they've been spotted out together, sometimes on their own and sometimes with friends.
Rumours are flying about that Itachi is being unfaithful to Tsubaki and that maybe something is happening between Akira and Itachi. The two seem awfully close and there's definitely chemistry between the two!
We've contacted Tsubaki's representatives, but they have yet to comment on the situation.
So, what do you think? Is Itachi cheating on Tsubaki? Leave a comment down below and tell us your thoughts on this upcoming Uchiha scandal!
A/N: I finally updated, yay! All my assignments for last term are in and now I have too much free time that I don't know what to do with myself. So, I've decided to finally finish this chapter. I've spent too long on it, and I'm fairly certain it isn't the best I've written.
There will be NO chapter this Friday, I'm sorry. I'm seeing my favourite band on Friday and I'll be with my boyfriend all weekend. So, I'll just update next Friday instead.
2018 is going pretty great for me so far. I'm going to try to be a lot healthier this year. Last year I was really bad at eating properly, I skipped meals or just went all day without eating because I couldn't be bothered. I'm going to try my best to look after myself well this year so I can be healthy mentally and physically. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this resolution :P it's going sort of well so far.
To be honest, the only reason why I finished this chapter is because I'm waiting for my Nintendo Switch to arrive. I know I wouldn't have updated if it was here already X'D I'm an awful author. I'm sorry X'D
I hope everyone had a good Christmas/Holiday/New Years!
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed this story! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Here's the replies to the reviews guests and any accounts I couldn't pm left on the last chapter (I'm sorry if I've missed any):
Guest: I'm glad you love my story!
Guest: I've updated, sorry it wasn't soon though D:
chavasaisilpa: I'm glad you like my story!
I really struggled writing this chapter, I spent ages harassing my boyfriend on what Itachi would/wouldn't do since I'm desperate to keep him in character as much as I can. I planned the story out ages ago, but I didn't plan it properly enough. I realised what I planned was slightly out of character for Itachi, so I had to change it.
- Yin