Chapter 8:

Deidara was determined to talk to Sasori as soon as his morning class ended and he went to lunch. The more he thought about the conversation they had in their room, the more he felt his chest tighten with worry. The fact that Sasori had said that was one thing; it was a whole other thing when Deidara realized that he had said those things with absolutely no emotion whatsoever.

He had told him he was nothing…and had showed no sign of regret when doing so.

That's probably what was causing the pain in the blonde's chest at the moment. His eyes watched the professor speak and move about the room, scrolling through the PowerPoint, but his mind didn't comprehend any of it. Other students were passed out, some just lazily tapping their pencils against their desks in order to keep entertained until class ended in 10 minutes.

Honestly, he could have left way before then, but he didn't really feel like getting up and walking. He wanted to just curl up in his bed back at the house and fall asleep, the dreams taking him away from the reality that was his current situation.

His gaze landed on the clock, sighing inwardly as he realized only two minutes had passed since he last looked at it.

Fuck this, he thought, stuffing his notebook and pen in his book bag and standing up to leave. Nothing was sticking in his brain, and the only conceivable thought in his brain was talking to Sasori.

So, he made his way over to the door, going through and disappearing down the hallway.

"That jackass Sasori demeaned my art, the fucker!" Deidara screamed, slamming his fists on the circular table in front of him. He was sitting in the La Pat, a chocolate scone on a doily paper resting off to the side, and across from him was the girl who worked behind the cash register, Ino. They had been talking ever since that first day they met and he decided to drop by after eating his meal to grab a dessert over small talk. Unfortunately, it had turned into him raging about his roommate's outburst. "I mean, my art is better than his, anyways! People have a legitimate fear of puppets, you know?! It's called Pupaphobia."

"Did you have to look that up?"

"…Maybe."

"Look, Deidara," Ino leaned forward, white-blonde hair falling with her, "I'm sure everything is going to be okay. I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it."

"You didn't see the way he looked at me, though," the clay artist turned his gaze to his palm mouths, feeling that familiar tightness in his chest, "he told me I was nothing…that I'm basically just a piece of gum on a sidewalk. And he said it so…so calmly…without any emotion whatsoever. I think that's the thing that kills me most."

"What do you mean?" she asked, voice dripping with concern. Deidara gripped his hands into fists. "As he stood there and told me I was nothing, his eyes portrayed nothing. No sadness, no anger, no regret or remorse, it was just…expressionless. The least he could have done was show annoyance at me, but not even that was showing on his face. It was so creepy and gut-wrenching at the same time that when he left the room, I felt so…empty, like even I was drained of any emotions."

"The infamous Deidara actually cared about what someone said to him?!" Ino fake-gasped. "I'm shocked! Why did Sasori's opinion faze you so much?"

"I have no idea, Ino," the blonde said, eyes looking at the girl across from him, "I don't know."

He picked up the cup of coffee next the scone, taking a swig.

Ino smiled contentedly. "Well, I think it's because you love him."

Deidara sputtered on his drink, half-choking as he tried to grasp what just came out of her mouth. She laughed a velvety laugh. "My, are you flustered?"

"What do you mean 'it's because you love him'?" he squinted his blue orbs at her. Ino smirked and leaned back in her chair. "You talk about Sasori all the time, Deidara. You may not notice it, but you do. You talk about how much he irritates you, how you want to constantly slam his head into the wall, how he says your art is nothing. And just now, you expressing that you felt completely empty after what he said to you proves you have some underlying feeling of affection towards him."

"That can't possibly be true," Deidara said, but his gaze was fixed away from the girl to keep her from seeing the blush spreading rapidly through his cheeks.

"It is true, too," he heard her say, "You told me that you have never cared about anyone's opinion about your art before, especially if that said opinion demeaned your art. Why has it taken a redheaded puppeteer to finally get you to crack?"

He didn't respond, because he already knew the answer.

But Ino said it anyways.

"It's because you love him."

He didn't say anything for a few seconds, just twirling the rim of his cup with his index finger, the cogs and gears working overtime in his brain to finally get a solution. He sighed, feeling like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. "…So what if I do? That doesn't change anything."

"In a way, it does," she said, eyes calm. "You can either continue not talking to him, or you can-"

"Don't you find it weird, though?"

"What do you mean?" she blinked rapidly, confusion etched on her perfect face.

"That…" he turned his eyes away, a flush appearing on his cheeks, "I love a guy and I'm a guy. Don't you find that…I don't know, disgusting…or something?"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her face fall slightly, smile turning into a straight line. She sighed lightly. "Deidara, all I'm going to say is this. Love knows no boundaries. It is one of the most cliché things on the entire planet, but it's true. Love doesn't care whether you're a boy, girl, cat, dog, whatever. And it doesn't care where you send that love to, whether it be the opposite sex or the same. All that it cares about is whether you're feeling it or not. Because if you truly love someone, well…where's the harm in that?"

Suddenly, a loud chime rung on the watch wrapped around her wrist. She looked down at it hastily and stood up, grabbing the apron and throwing it over and around her neck. She smiled down at the blonde. "Don't worry about Sasori, Deidara. If he feels that much of a need to tell you you're nothing, he's finding an excuse to distance himself from you."

"Why would he need to do that?" the clay artist asked expectantly. Ino smiled brightly. "Because the puppeteer might just feel the same way towards you."

She then proceeded to walk off, leaving Deidara alone with his coffee and chocolate scone.

Could Sasori really be in love with him?