"Arini, dear. Good, you're here. Close the door behind you, will you?"
Arini shut the door behind her and fixed her gaze on her mother questioningly. As soon as she had woken up that Saturday morning, the housekeeper had herded her across the house, prattling about her mother wanting to see her. And so here she was, still wearing her frilly nightgown and her hair as unkempt as anything.
"You wanted to see me, Mother?" She rubbed her elbows. Her parents' bedroom was huge. She didn't like coming in here. Never did. It was too wide, too spacious; she couldn't help feeling self-conscious whenever she was here.
Her mother shut her book quietly and set it down. "We've found another one."
Arini stopped, not quite comprehending the bit of information. Found another what? And then it sank in, and her hand flew to cup around the ghastly scar on her face. "Really?" She didn't like the way her voice came out in a squeak.
"Sit, sit." Donned in a pink bathrobe and fuzzy slippers, her mother looked slightly less intimidating than she usually did. And so Arini sat in the place her mother was patting at on the couch. "Your great-aunt lives in Paris," she said, putting a French accent on the last word. "Surely you know that?"
"Great-aunt Sunako, yes."
"Yes, well. She found an excellent surgeon there--absolutely superb. Many years of experience, and an almost flawless record of successful operations. Your father and I would like you to spend a few weeks in Paris with Sunako to give Dr. Frederic a chance." Her mother beamed, but her gaze stayed away from Arini' scar the entire time.
Of course. Her mother would be one of the ones who'd want to get rid of the blemish on her face the most. Her own daughter, with such a frightening mark that could send a child's knees quaking? Never.
But she didn't blame her mother. She, Arini herself, wanted to the scar to go away just as much. It was so ugly, and she hated it so much. A prickle of uncomfortable humiliation helpfully reminded her of those days when she first waltzed around that hospital, unaware of just how ugly her scar was, and taking those stares of disgust and revulsion obliviously. But…
But she had already gone through seven other surgeries before, and they had all done nothing for her. She looked the same. Worst, if nothing else. Arini was reluctant to try another surgeon--and goodness, in Paris? She had just gotten back, and she…well, she wanted to settle down a bit first.
"I..." Arini looked down. "I...could we wait until spring? I...want to..."
Her mother clucked her tongue now, annoyed. "Arini, dear--" she said the latter word through clenched teeth--"the fact that we've found him at all is a pure miracle. I would like--…I know you would want to get rid of that…that thing as soon as possible, so please. Don't be difficult. There'll be plenty of time to rendezvous with your friends later."
But I don't have any friends anymore. Arini stared hard at the carpet, and didn't say anything at all. A long pause stretched, and finally, her mother sighed, absolutely aggravated.
"Fine!" she barked, snatching her book back up again. "Be ungrateful. Get out of here."
Arini scrambled outside, her cheeks flaming. She hadn't meant to make her mother angry…
Just a little longer, she promised herself. She needed just a little more time. And then she'd go.
She had been walking, making her way back to her own room, but now she stopped and glanced at the windows to the side. Through the heavy velvet curtains, bright sunshine streamed through the cracks and ushered invitingly to Arini. Blinking rapidly, she found her footsteps taking her down the stairs and out the door.
She walked and walked after that, and it wasn't until her feet started aching to such an extent that she couldn't ignore it very much longer, and she noticed she had been walking barefoot the entire time. She looked up now, and found that walking as long as she did had taken her to the shopping centers of the city. People were busily bustling in and out, and the honking of cars and screeching of tires filled the air.
There was a park nearby too, so she found a bench and curled herself up into a ball there to look at the sky. It was very blue today, but thick gray clouds loomed in the sky ominously. It was windy, too. Waves of wind were rippling the air, sending her hair flying in all directions, so in the end, she gathered her hair together and slung it over her shoulder. And she sat like that for a while, just staring at the sky.
"Mommy!"
The sound of a little boy's voice so near her pierced the rhythmic sound of the distant chattering and honking cars, and Arini tore her gaze away from the sky. A small boy and his mother were walking by, hand-in-hand, but the boy was staring intently at her with a curious expression on his face.
"Mommy, what's up with that lady's face? It's all red and weird-looking!"
"Kyota!" His mother hissed. She had stopped walking when her son was talking, but now she picked up pace again. "Don't say that, I think it's a birthmark." She glanced at Arini too, then walked even faster. "Don't look at her, dear. It's not normal," she muttered.
But Arini heard her. She heard every word of their conversation. And now her heart dropped like stone.
She had forgotten. How could she be so stupid?
Concealer, foundation, powder...she'd forgotten to put them on before she left.
Stupidstupidstupid…
Weird-looking.
She was weird-looking. Weird-looking? It looked that bad? It was really that bad…?
She could feel her body trembling all over, and she rose from the bench now and began walking away quickly. It was that bad, to that extent…should she go to Paris right away after all? She didn't want to look like this. If she let herself stay this way too long, would that affect the results of the surgery? Would it be harder to get rid of?
She...she didn't want to be weird-looking forever. Nonono, absolutely not. She couldn't. She didn't want to be weird-looking to kids forever. She didn't want kids to be scared of her forever…because she wanted a child of her own one day, and she wanted that child to look at her and think of her as the prettiest mother in the world…
But.
But that was impossible with her current face, wasn't it?
Her own baby would be scared of her if she looked like that while she held him in her arms.
And...
Her footsteps had taken her walking through the shops in the city, and now she stopped in front of a shop that sold mirrors for Feng Shui. Through the window display, she stared in sheer horror at her own reflection in one of the round mirrors.
And she didn't want that.
But her face...red and angry, grisly-looking, stretching to cover the entire left side of her face. Veins bulging, popping out in an unsightly way.
If she ever had a child, how could he ever think of her as beautiful?
Lumps rose to swell in her throat, and before she even realized it, her breathing was picking up at a horrid pace. Her heart was pumping wildly, and then the tears were coming, streaming down her face rapidly.
She took off running now, just running and running and running.
She wanted to escape herself. She didn't want to be. Why did she have to look like this?
Her chest throbbed painfully, and the tears felt like they would never stop.
And then she finally stopped running, clinging onto the door of an empty telephone booth for support. She wasn't used to running so much, walking so much like she did today. Her chest hurt, and her legs were so sore…
She was vaguely aware of the people passing by her now, and giving her odd looks. Were they…were they staring at her face? Paranoia rising to grip her again, she slid into the telephone booth and shut the door firmly behind her. Then she sank to the ground on her knees, feeling like she would burst from her despair, because everything she was crying right now wasn't enough.
She wanted...she needed to talk to someone.
But who?
She stared at the telephone in front of her for a little longer, sniffling and sobbing, then glanced at the ground. There was scattered change everywhere, coins people had probably dropped in their hurry to make their calls. She snatched up a few coins and jammed them into the slot. Then she smacked random numbers in until she heard it ringing. She didn't know what she was doing, but she just needed someone to listen…
"Hello?" a woman's voice came up on the other end.
Arini tried to say something that at least sounded like it made sense, but she couldn't, because she was still crying so hard…
"Hello?" the woman asked again, seemingly irritated.
And when Arini said nothing still, the line went dead.
Wiping away her tears, she jammed more coins into the slot. Then she punched in an absolutely random number, the first one that came to her mind. It started ringing again, and this time, a male answered.
"Hello?"
Trying to swallow the lumps in her throat, Arini tried to say something that sounded at least rational, but all she came out with was a choked-up sob that tore through her chest.
"Who is this?" His voice was smooth. Smooth like velvet, and it was...soothing.
And those tones struck a chord inside her, because she suddenly broke out crying again and couldn't stop. And she tried. Oh, she tried, because she knew she sounded like a maniac. But she couldn't. "I...I..." she managed to say in between sobs, but then she stopped trying altogether, and just kept crying.
And crying and crying and crying.
But the funny thing was, that person on the other line didn't hang up. She heard him, breathing softly on the other line, and it didn't go dead like the other time, like it had with the woman--like she had thought it would.
And when she finally stopped crying as hard, she heard this: "Feel better now?"
"I..." Arini felt her composure slowly returning, and she was finally able to manage out words that weren't thickly coated with bawling. "Th-...thank you..."
"Hm." Then there was a clicking sound, and the line went dead.
She held the receiver still, clutching at it tightly for another while. Then she put it back in place, rising to her feet again. She...she didn't know who that person was, but…she was so grateful to him.
If…
If there had been no one to listen...no one she could find…
She didn't want to think about what she would've done.
"Who was that, danna?" Deidara asked, eyes wide. "You know you usually never carry on a conversation for longer than three minutes, and you stayed on for eight!"
Sasori slid the cell phone back into his pocket, shrugging. "It was a wrong number."
"Is that so, un? You know, for a moment, I thought you were talking to Sakura or something..." the blonde chortled.
"So did I..." Sasori muttered. "...at first."
"What was that, danna?"
"Never mind."
"Okay, okay. So the saleslady and me were talking while you were on the phone." Deidara jabbed at the glass display. "So do you think those earrings, or that necklace would make a better present for Ino's birthday tomorrow?"
"...Deidara, you can't be serious."
"Why not?"
"...That necklace is the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my goddamn life."
Arini hated parties.
Not the kind where there was music tearing down the walls of the rooms with large crowds of teenagers swaying their hips to the noise, that is. No, she was never invited to those sorts of parties.
The kind of parties she attended every weekend were formal parties. Dinner parties that Very Important People held to celebrate such-and-such, and engagement parties that big heads held for their daughters and sons getting married to so-and-so to create a merger between two companies. Grand parties, where you had to wear tight-fitting dresses that were made especially for you during one afternoon where someone would have to come over and take all your measurements and ask you what you wanted your dress to look like and what color.
Arini hated them, but tonight she was attending one of them. Tonight, on this very fine Sunday, a Mr. Kamui Dawaichi was announcing his engagement to a Ms. Aoi Naoyaka.
But Arini didn't really care, so after lounging around for a good bit in her blush-pink gown, she ran away.
She'd come back. It's not like her absence would really be noticed, anyways. Her mother was always much too busy gossiping with the other ladies, and her father would prattle on and on about his company at parties like these.
She twisted and turned through the dark streets of the city with her hands tightly clutched around her skirts, jumping every so often when a car would drive past.
The lights are so bright, she thought idly, tilting her head up to look at the dancing lights of the street lamps.
It was nice, walking on a night like this. The summer air was so nice and warm. Wouldn't it be wonderful to sleep outside? She did a little twirl, letting her skirts twist playfully around her waist. Too bad she was trapped inside the house most of the times. The outside was so much more welcoming than the inside, after all.
Biting down on her lower lip, Arini glanced around at her surroundings and paused in her steps, suddenly realizing that her setting no longer looked quite familiar. Oh...I should probably be getting back.
Her gaze darting back and forth, she spun on her heel and started walking in the opposite direction, letting the street lamps guide her on her way back. But as she walked and approached a four-way, it occurred to her that she'd also taken quite a few lefts and rights...she'd taken a left last, right?
She took a few steps to the left, throwing an uncertain look back over her shoulder as she walked. But she strode onwards, quite aware that she was now leaving the protection of her street lamps. After a while, she noticed a thin narrow pathway down to her right, and remembered that she had crossed something like that in her hurry to escape the party. Hope rekindled, she hastily scurried for the pathway, hoping that whatever direction she was taking was right.
"Hey, gurlie."
A sudden voice from her left sent a squeak tumbling from her lips, and she stumbled to the ground clumsily.
"Whoa, whoa. Ye okay, gurlie?" A rumbling laugh bounded towards her, and Arini sat up, rubbing her head.
"Lemme help ye out there." A man loomed over her, extending his hand to her. She stared at his huge hand uncertainly, but he didn't give her a chance to respond. He reached over and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to her feet abruptly. The sudden tug sent her limbs crying out in protest, but she didn't dare complain out loud. (His hands were strangely moist and leathery...)
"Th-thanks," Arini mumbled, snatching her hand back immediately and turning to look up at the man. He didn't actually look very old, if she looked closely enough. His face looked rather young still, maybe fresh out of high school, but his height and muscles easily added ages to his appearance. Not to mention his head was very crudely shaved, and dense facial hair covered various patches of his chin.
"Thanks, huh? Gurlie gurlie gurlie, ye crack meh up..." he chuckled. "...Huh. Well, whadda we have here?" His gaze was suddenly roaming her body, and Arini jumped back, not quite sure whether he was eyeing the rosy-colored dress--or the body that the one-shoulder strap very slyly exposed.
"Well, ye don't have such a bad figure there...how about showing me the rest of what's under that snooty 'lil dress?" he smiled, showing rows of awfully yellow teeth.
Both, Arini thought to herself, and turned. Her feet moved swiftly, but the man caught her arm easily and pulled her back. "Whoaaa. Hold up right there. Ye can't go yet, the night's young."
Horrified, Arini tried to pull away, but his grip was amazingly, unbelievably, terrifyingly tight.
His damp rubbery hand moved to push the strap away from her shoulder, and a shriek began to escape lips--only, the other hand flew to cover her mouth, and the taste of his hand was so awful that she clamped her mouth shut again immediately.
"That's right, gurlie. Stay still and it won't be too bad--I promise." He smiled crookedly, his hand traveling lower down her body still.
Her mind completely gripped by fear, Arini could barely begin to comprehend what was happening. It couldn't happen. No, she couldn't. Her virginity was the only pure part of her left. If she lost that--if she lost that as well--...
How could she ever face the world again? Nonono, it couldn't happen, it just couldn't, dear God...Tears stung her eyes, and she closed them so she wouldn't have to watch her vision being blurred. No, it wasn't real. This wasn't real. It was a nightmare. She could wake herself up from it, if she tried hard enough...
Wake up.
Wake up.
Wake up.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Frighteningly loud sounds suddenly pierced the air, and Arini's eyes fluttered open.
"Didn't think you'd actually get away from me, did you, Daisuke?" a new voice said calmly. "Ah...I see you've found yourself a toy, too. Cocky. You should've tried to hide."
"Aghhhh..." The eyes of the man in front of her were wide, his pupils small and beady. "B-Bastard..." And that was the only thing he managed to say before blood spurted from his lips and splattered onto the ground--and then he fell on top of her.
Arini yelped, trying to jump back, but the weight of his body was too much for her. She was tackled to the ground as well, and that was how she noticed the large red holes in the back of the man that had just tried to rape her.
He'd been shot. She didn't quite understand it at first, blinking rapidly as the fact slowly sank in. And then her eyes were large and round like saucers, and she looked up.
A boy, probably no older than her, hovered over her, staring not at her, but at the body of the man slumped over in her lamp with a smirk spread over his lips. And as he turned slightly, letting the moonbeams wash over him, she noticed his fiery red hair.
Ohmigod.
It was that boy from her Human Anatomy class. That Akatsuki member. Sasori. Sasori...Akasuna. His last name hit her with a jolt as her eyes lingered on the unmoving body, big red gaping holes on his backside. Then her gaze snapped up to stare, her body quivering viciously, at the redhead.
Tonight, he was dressed coarsely in a black-and-red leather jacket--and dressed in only that, torso-wise anyways, because he hadn't bothered zipping it up, exposing his bare chest underneath. Tightly-fitting black pants wrapped snugly around his legs, and a silver cross hung on a chain against his chest. And as her eyes followed the sleeves of his jacket and to his hands, which were gloved with black leather, a gleaming silver pistol caught her eye.
"You...you shot him," she gasped, struggling to rise to her feet as she pushed the corpse off of her.
The redhead had been seemingly busy reloading his weapon, but now he turned to glance at her. "Who are you to complain?"
Looking down at herself, Arini suddenly realized how ridiculous she looked. Her dress was stained crimson with blood, and the strap of her one-shoulder gown had slipped down her shoulder to reveal part of her bra. Flushing a bright pink, she hurriedly pushed the strap back in place. "B-But...you...you...killed...!"
There was a clicking sound, and with one lucid motion, Arini suddenly found herself with a gun to her head.
"Say anything. Anything about this, and you die with him."
His eyes were dangerous--with absolutely no trace of hesitation in his threat. And...and he just looked so casual about it...that it suddenly occurred to Arini that this boy, Sasori Akasuna, didn't recognize who she was, with her hair twisted back into an updo and plenty of ridiculous flower hairpins keeping it in place, and then all the makeup and then her dress...
And she decided not to say anything to this Akatsuki member, either. Because she knew now that she would have nothing more to do with this person than she had to.
"I-...I won't..." she murmured very softly, averting her gaze.
"Good." More clicking, then he retracted his arm. "Come on."
Her eyes widened. "W-...wait, what?"
"...I'm sorry." He turned his critical gaze onto her. "I wasn't aware you expected to stay with him. Of course, I'll just leave you..."
"W-wait! I mean, no, no I don't want to stay with him!" Her heart was beating quickly again at the very thought of being left behind with the corpse of that rotten man. "P-please don't leave me here..."
"That's what I thought. Come on." He was making his way out of the alleyway now, pushing the gun into his jacket pocket.
"W-where are you taking me?"
"I don't know. You tell me."
"Umm...Dawaichi Manor."
The redhead stopped walking and turned. "You can't be serious."
"Wh-...what?"
"You're from there?"
"I...I..." Arini looked down, not quite sure how to answer that as she fidgeted with her fingers. She felt his gaze on her now, trailing down slowly as if studying her dress. Then very softly, he sighed.
"Of course..." Then he continued walking and said nothing more. So she followed him, feeling ever-so-uncomfortable.
At the opening of the alleyway, a sleek black motorcycle had been parked, and that was what the Akatsuki member now swung his leg over. "Hop on."
"I..." How could she say she'd never ridden on a motorcycle before and was deathly afraid of the experience, without angering him and making herself look completely ridiculous? ...Well, there. She couldn't. So very awkwardly, she imitated his gesture and slid one leg over the seat.
"Hold on tight."
"Wha...? Oh....ahhhhhhh!" she shrieked as the motorcycle suddenly vroomed to life, and they sped off.
The wind battered her face violently at the speed they were going, and she found stray locks of her hair unable to withstand the wind and stay in a perfect updo whipping at her face all the while. She also realized early on that in order to prevent herself from falling off, she had to hold on tightly--maybe a little too tightly for comfort--to the waist of Sasori Akasuna. It was quite possibly the most discomfiting experience ever...if only she had the time to sulk in it.
They were going fast, much faster than any speed limit should've let them go, but who was an Akatsuki member to abide by laws and regulations anyways? It was understandable...but for her...for her...it was unbearable. She felt like her heart was about to fly out of her chest any minute now, and she held on fast to the rabid fear that any moment now, they would hit something. Maybe a street lamp. And then....
There would be the lights, the darkness, the pain, and everything else again afterwards.
"C-can you go slower?!" she tried to shout over the loud roaring of the wind.
He didn't seem to hear her, because the speed remained the same. Faster, if anything else.
"I...I..." A pole. What if they hit a pole? "Can you please go slower?!"
And maybe it was just her imagination, but the wind seemed to be rushing to hit her face even more quickly now. Tears sprang to her eyes. A pedestrian. What if they hit a pedestrian? God, oh my god...and then, all over again...it would repeat, but for someone else too...and...and...
"SLOW DOWN, SASORI AKASUNA!" Arini screamed, feeling the hot tears escape her eyes, but they never got the chance to roll down her face. Instead, they flew off into the night; that's how fast the motorcycle was going.
But after she spewed out those words, the motorcycle did slow down. And when Arini realized that, she couldn't help but cry even more, because she was ridiculously grateful he'd listened.
The motorcycle stopped a few feet away from the front gates of Dawaichi Manor, and that was where he let her off. Arini climbed off, relieved to be back in contact with the dear sweet ground, and bowed. "Thankyoufortheride." And then she tried to rush away.
But it didn't work. "Wait."
And so she stopped and turned around, a fearful expression crossing her face. What did this frightening person want with her now?
"You know me," the redhead said, leaning his body over his bike. "How?"
"What?" Arini blinked. "I...I don't know you." She laughed nervously. (Did that seem too fake?) "What are you talking about?"
"You knew my name, so don't play dumb," Sasori sighed. "Who are you?"
When did she tell him she knew his name? What was he talking about....? Oh. Ohmygoodness. Arini blushed furiously, realizing her mistake. "I...I..."
"...Oh, wait. No, you don't need to answer that..." And then he suddenly got up from his bike and walked over to her, pulling something out of her hair--sending her brown locks cascading down her shoulders. (How did he do that? She always spent forever trying to let down her hair at night...) "You're Arini Naruhana, aren't you?" And now Sasori smiled again. No, not smiled....it was more of a smirk. That incredibly boyish smirk that sent the tint that mantled Arini's cheeks to deepen a shade.
"Erm..."
"...Thought you looked familiar." He twirled the flower hairpin in his fingers.
An uncomfortable feeling was creeping into Arini's chest, suggesting to her that the longer she stood in front of this person, this coldblooded murderer, the more gradually her life was slipping into jeopardy. Oh yes, she still remembered very clearly, those shrill gunshots ringing in her ears, how he had shot that man down. And no matter how grateful she was to him for it, even though she didn't really care that much for that man's life anyways because her virginity was safe now and that was all that really mattered to her, it never stopped occurring to her that her own life was in danger now, that she might be next, as long as she was within shooting radius of this Very Dangerous Person. After all, he didn't seem all that reluctant to pull the trigger on her while the deathly cold metal was pressed against her head.
...Oh my goodness gracious. She had yelled at him earlier, hadn't she? The dread swelling in her heart, she threw her head forward in an apologetic bow. "Ummm...I'm sorry for yelling at you!" she blurted out. And with that being said, she hurried inside the gates, hoping to God he'd just leave it at that.
Daisuke Aizawa. He was trash, and everyone who'd ever heard his name knew that. He went around doing dirty jobs for gangs, never really sticking with one, and that's what pissed people off. Everyone had him on their black list, so he was bound to go down one day.
It just so happened Leader had decided Sasori would have fun with this job. After all, Akatsuki's secrets being spilled to their rival gang in Sunagakure wasn't something to be taken lightly.
But he'd never expected to bump into the little rich girl from his Human Anatomy class while actually finishing him off. Odd, wasn't it, the way things turned out?
But she really was such a funny girl. He wondered when she'd realize she'd forgotten the flower hairpin he was still playing with in his fingers.
Oh, but...the petals looked like diamonds. ...Maybe he should keep it. He slipped it into his pocket and drove off.
A/N: Whee! That's the third chapter up. Hehe, I'm ridiculously proud of myself that I'm actually getting somewhere with this series. So, to my few dear readers, what do you think so far? :3 Reviews, por favor?
