The two did not seem out of place while walking beside each other, despite coming from completely different departments. Art and mathematics usually do not mix, but it did not prevent them from sticking together.
Strangely enough, others do not seem to even find it off-putting. Sasori, who at first was shocked to see Tobi always at the art room once the bell signals the end of the school day like he teleported there, became accustomed to seeing Deidara and expecting Tobi to be beside him.
It is like they have always been together, since the start.
If the teachers aren't free to oversee the art students working in the exhibition, they'd spend some time in the library, reading or studying. Sitting back to back, Deidara would study his script for the play and Obito would mull over his textbooks.
Sometimes, they'd enjoy each other's presence long enough for the library to close and force them out. They'd then instead opt to spend their time at the café.
It isn't usually allowed, for them to spend time mostly talking rather than eating, though they do lapse in comforting silences that allow them to finish the meals they have ordered. Obito offered to pay for the two of them most of the time, with Deidara answering with an amused grin and a snide comment wondering if Tobi was flirting with him.
They'd laugh it off and then Obito would walk Deidara home, giving the smaller man a hug before he lets him go, watching the blonde turn in the corner and enter his apartment complex, throwing a glance over his shoulder to watch the Uchiha.
Usually, the sky would be just a shade darker than the striking blue of Deidara's eyes, those same watery eyes would reflect the city lights, causing Tobi to feel expansive and endless, his sky lighting up with the stars he's never seen, forever remaining within those seas that he never realized were his favorite color.
Obito thinks it is some sort of hex. How could it be that two complete strangers could click so easily? But whenever Tobi looks at Deidara's grinning face, whether it be because of something he said or something he overheard at the café, he finds that he doesn't really mind.
Tobi simply hopes that there is the same level of curiosity stemming from Deidara, too. The blonde could be hard to read sometimes, despite always wearing his emotions on his sleeves. He is very expressive, something that Obito notices almost immediately after their talk in the café. It didn't come as something surprising, though.
It seems to be okay, right about now. Deidara tolerates his presence and sometimes even seeks him out, whenever Obito couldn't make it over to the art building due to tests or whatever else that might have held him back. The Zetsu twins don't even question it anymore.
The twins had two completely different reactions at first. Dokuzetsu seemed to be disgusted, while Jozetsu could only spend his time asking useless questions like, "are you dating?"
They learned to shut up after the third time Deidara beat them bloody.
88
Perhaps it's only the matter of time.
88
The first impression Obito has of Deidara's studio apartment is that it is very warm, no matter how spacious it is. The artist must have left on a heater or something before he left for school. He wonders idly if his parents would mind if their son is racking up the electricity bill.
He takes a few seconds taking off his extra layers of jackets that he put on that morning to fend off the biting cold winds of the nearing winter, as well as eyeing the place. It looks well enough for a kid who's living on his own since his parents are away on working holiday. There are barely any doors, which makes sense since it's a studio apartment, but it surprises Obito with the lack of privacy save for the toilets.
He could actually see the corner of Deidara's parents' room from his position at the front door. Though, it does make the apartment a lot brighter than usual apartments. The setting sun is casting a bright light into the rooms, refraining the use of additional lights as long as the sun remains in the sky. It's actually bright enough for Obito to squint a little bit in order to ease the pain in his eyes.
He holds his jackets on his arm once he is rid of them, blinking up at Deidara.
"Why is it that you don't do your weird grunt thing when you practice?" Obito finds himself asking as he looks for a place to put down his bag and jackets, remembering the first time he saw Deidara acting as Shylock. Deidara gestures generously to the couch right next to the door, where Tobi puts his messenger bag and clothes onto.
They have just come back from another session of Deidara's practice with his theatre team, this time another scene. Obito spent his time sitting in the audience, with Mrs. Sarutobi. She still won't give up asking him why he's hanging out with Deidara most of the time, given that she hasn't seen them together in all the years they've been studying at the school, even when Obito answers that they just met and were already on pretty good terms.
Sometimes Obito wonders if that woman is planning something. He doesn't trust the look in her eyes. Although her eyes are the typical brown, there are sometimes hints of red that makes Obito uneasy. Kind as she is, Tobi has no doubt that Mrs. Sarutobi can dish out the harshest punishment she's allowed to if something happens to one of her beloved student actors.
"My grunt thing isn't weird, hm," Deidara grunts as he heads over to the walk-in kitchen, fidgeting a little as he notices laundry on the floor on the way there. Stealthily, or as stealthily as he thinks he's being, Deidara uses his foot to kick them out of Obito's sight - not that Tobi minds. He won't mention how one of those briefs is in hot pink. He'd just agree silently to never mention it. Ever.
"Hm," Deidara grunts once more, now standing aimlessly in the kitchen, as though he is deep in thought. "It's not weird, yeah," he repeats himself, nodding along to his words. "And I don't grunt because I tell myself the character doesn't grunt. I can't play a character if I can't speak and think like them, yeah."
"Oh," Tobi says, an interested tone. "So, it's like your art? You get lost in it?"
Deidara remains silent, grabbing a glass of water and quickly pouring some warm water into it. He doesn't speak until Obito accepts the glass and sits down on the couch.
"Yeah, like my art, yeah," the blonde nods, a little bit distant. "It's like I can... I can be someone else. Someone else that's not burdened. Yeah."
Tobi blinks. "Burdened by the art exhibition and the Merchant in Venice show?"
Deidara turns and watches with puzzling blue eyes, not talking until Tobi takes a tentative sip out of his cup to test the water's temperature.
He breathes through his nose deeply and breathes out much the same way. "Yeah," he says, almost hesitant.
Tobi doesn't doubt him for a second.
"Okay," he says cheerily, gulping down the rest of the water since it's the perfect temperature. Deidara must be used to mixing water for his clay. "Hey, do you have any actor's privileges?"
"What do you mean, yeah?" Deidara glances at Tobi, raising a slightly darker blonde eyebrow.
"I mean, can you manage to get a ticket for me? I'd like to see you perform live," Tobi grins.
Deidara mirrors it back gradually, finding this more and more humorous as time goes on. "Ha, but you watch me almost every other day, hm," Deidara says. "Wouldn't want to bore you. You fall asleep really easily, hm."
Obito lowers his glass, resting it on his lap as he looks up at Deidara, eyes all serious. "No," he says. "I don't."
Then, Tobi laughs. "I only pretend to fall asleep because what you're saying is boring!"
Deidara clicks his tongue, grabbing the glass from Tobi's hand and standing up angrily, stomping his way to the kitchen. "You're an asshole, yeah," he says.
Tobi continues his sing-song tune as he stands up as well, shamelessly wandering around the studio home now that the awkward ice has been shattered. He peers into bookcases, feeling only slightly guilty for invading Deidara's privacy, as he looks at old family photos.
Ah, the Basutos looks like a normal Japanese family. His father even took him to work more than once, it seems. There are newer pictures of the happy family, so Obito assumes Father Basuto and Mother Basuto took Deidara's coming out pretty well.
He could hear clanking in the kitchen and Deidara's voice follows shortly after. "Are you vegetarian, or anything, hm?"
"Oh!" Obito stands up straight from looking at one of the older pictures of Deidara, dusting off the image of baby Deidara in diapers taking his first walk at the beach. "No, I'm not vegetarian."
"Okay, that's good, hm," Deidara replies.
Obito quickly digs into his pant pocket, fishing out his phone. He ignores the texts from Jozetsu and heads to the phone application, having completely forgotten about telling his grandparents beforehand that he would not be returning for dinner. Needn't worry the old folks too much.
Within three rings, his grandmother picks up the phone. Obito puts the phone comfortably against his ear, listening to his grandmother asking who it is.
"Hi, grandma, it's me, Obito," Obito says into the speaker.
"Oh, hello Obito," his grandmother says kindly, her voice wavering slightly with age. "What is wrong?"
"Ah, just calling to tell you I won't be returning home for dinner tonight," Obito explains as he wanders to the other side of the living room, finding an open doorway that leads to what seems like Deidara's workspace. He glances around, noting the closeness to this and the couch. It's hard to get a big place for an artistic kid in Japan, he supposes. Perhaps Deidara's parents lived here way before Deidara was born, and had to move the furniture a little bit to accommodate the ever growing art supplies their son must own.
"I'm having dinner over at a classmate's, I'll ring you when I'm about to leave for home," he continues to say, heading inside the workspace and peering at carving tools and bags of unused clay.
"Okay," she says, her smile evident in her voice. This is the first time in a couple of months that Obito is spending time over at a classmate's home. He used to do it with Konan, Nagato, and Yahiko, but he had a bit of a falling out with Konan and she basically has the other two boys wrapped around her pinky finger. Their relationship never really mended over the years and it's just an awkward air even though Yahiko and Nagato enjoy spending time with Obito.
"You have fun now, okay?" she says, hanging up after the two says their goodbyes.
After the call is cut, Obito locks his phone and shoves it back into his pant pocket, coming to a spinny thing in the middle of the room. "What's this?" he asks, mostly to himself but he hopes that Deidara would hear.
There seem to be remains of fresh clay on it. He stares at it and wonders if Deidara is in the middle of making something, or has already finished.
"Huh?" Deidara questions, having heard Obito speak but not understanding him fully due to the distance. The artist abandons whatever it is that he is doing in the kitchen and follows Tobi's voice. Although he initially seems displeased that Tobi is in his workspace, he doesn't voice it and looks at what Obito is curious about.
"Oh, hm," he says beneath his breath, heading over and shooing Tobi away. He wipes his hands clean and starts stepping on a pedal beneath the thing. "It's a potter's wheel, yeah. I use it for throwing."
"Throwing?" Tobi asks.
Deidara sighs, grabbing some clay from a sealed bag beside him and places it on the wheel, shaping the damp clay gently into an almost perfectly cylindrical shape.
"Shaping the clay, hm," Deidara explains after a while, stopping when the clay is a little too dry to keep going. He has to make dinner, Tobi supposes, so he can't get carried away. "Try it. Entertain yourself while I get dinner ready, hm."
Tobi doesn't mind being spoken to by Deidara like he is a child, although both of them know that Obito is older than him. Deidara doesn't leave until Tobi sits down at the potter's wheel, poking at the clay.
He doesn't know what to make. He really isn't an artist.
He wonders, for a moment, if Deidara wants to know what his creative mind is like. But then again, he might also want to rein in this terrible child that Obito slips into being whenever he's around the blonde. It's madness.
Beginning to pick at the corners of the clay, Obito allows his mind to wander, trying to tap into his creativity but instead finds himself thinking back on the days that led up to this event. It's all really funny if he is being honest with himself. Perhaps it is really his creative mind that brought the two of them together.
A ninja world with Deidara by his side doing whatever he is doing with his clay sculptures in his hands. That Deidara looks wilder, uncontrollable. He wonders if he subconsciously picks up on Deidara's desires to be free and to prove his artwork whatever way he pleases, and his creativity just builds on it to entertain him while he's bored.
Though, it would seem he is losing his mind as he still sometimes feels like he's seeing things that aren't there no matter what, regardless of whether or not he is bored. He could glance around his room and instead of seeing his poster, he'd see an orange mask with a swirl design on it.
Sometimes, he even finds himself preparing for something that hasn't even happened yet. He's managed to catch falling items more often than not before it even falls down. He manages to duck out of someone's way when they come charging down the hallway. Even in PE class, when Dokuzetsu tries to throw a punch at him, he knows when to dodge it before the darker Zetsu even lifts his arm.
Movement is all strange to him now. He's so very aware of it. But at the same time, nothing really changed. He's still clumsy at times, and he still gets slightly better than average grades. Itachi is still as strange and distant as always, never fully trusting him, and Sasuke... well, that weirdo is doing drugs with Orochimaru.
As he's lost in his rediscovery of the subtle yet not so subtle changes in his life, Obito doesn't even realize he's beginning to sculpt the white monster he has seen the first day with the clay Deidara left him with, not even bothering to turn the potter's wheel.
He pinches chunks of the white clay off to make some tails, using his nails to carve an eye in the middle of the face. He even managed to make something akin to limbs if you squint and look at it at a certain angle.
Hm, well. He is actually rather proud of it. This is the first artistic thing he has made since kindergarten.
He spends a few more moments trying to refine the details, even though his memory of the monster is hazy and blurred at best. Having only seen it at the corner of his eye, when his gaze was unfocused, it's really hard to milk any details out of that. Yet just recalling the image sends chills down his spine, which remains as he realizes the clay sculpture looks quite like what he imagined.
Somehow, with the monster in mind, he recalls standing before it, its huge size looming over him as he feels utterly defenseless against the raw power that you can feel by simply being in its presence, as well as its very soul in its roar. A tiny speck of dust could not much defend itself against the stronger current of wind.
It's strange, really. How can a monster like this scare him like that? As a kid, not much really set him running to his grandparents, perhaps only the thought of his friends hating him. Obito was a genuine kid, a kid with simple desires and goals.
His hand tightens as a fist and he moves it away from the clay, lest he ruins his work. So much for just wanting the best of his friends. He couldn't really trust anyone now, could he?
Well, perhaps only Deidara. The blonde's crass at times but he's got a softer side, the first work of Deidara's he's seen coming to mind, as well as the times he spends with Tobi. Sitting side by side on the train, either chatting or dozing off on his shoulder. Spending their evening at the café, loitering around at the park.
At those times, when the sun sneaks into the room or dances around the park, it touches Deidara's skin and caresses it so gently that Tobi could swear he can reach out and touch it. The light causes Deidara's golden hair to positively glow, a halo of light forming around the supposedly impatient man.
As Tobi would keep staring sometimes, Deidara would seem almost shy at the attention and look away, trying to bring up a topic that would interest him.
He'd remember walking beside him, with trees beside them and cloaks covering them. They'd bicker with friendliness and whenever Tobi finds himself worrying that he'd finally cross Deidara's line, he'd make a fool out of himself and Deidara would crack the tiniest smile to reassure Tobi that Deidara isn't really that mad. And they'd take to the sky with nothing but their strange, weird friendship to hold them together, forever side by side.
A sense of sadness washes over Obito and he doesn't understand, his hands returning to idly carving details onto the monster. He spends some time fixing a tail when he realizes he's missed one and then spends even more time adding some spikes onto the wicked, cone-shaped body.
Somehow, he feels, that his time with Deidara would not be long. Though beautiful, it would echo Deidara's view of the world and become fleeting. The most beautiful moments shattering when Deidara shies away, or when Obito takes a little too long to decide whether or not he should reach out and take Deidara's smaller hand into his.
And then, just like that, with each chances slipping away, he'd eventually stop getting his chances and Deidara would disappear like sand from between his fingers. In an elegant flash, of course, as the blonde sure does love his scenes. He'd probably blow, either literally or metaphorically, and never come back.
Tobi doesn't want that.
Obito doesn't know what to think of it.
"What's that, yeah?" Deidara's voice cuts through his musings by suddenly showing up at his side. For as loud and boisterous as he seems, Deidara does have his silent hours. Obito remains rooted to the chair, unmoving as he turns his head to the blonde, smiling awkwardly in fear of his art being judged by a slightly professional artist.
Or well, someone who has more experience with art than he does, anyway.
"It's, um, it's my art," Tobi replies, ceasing his idle detailing to move away from the wheel a little, showing Deidara what he's made.
Deidara stares at it with hard blue eyes for a couple of seconds and with each passing, Tobi gets more and more anxious. He hopes he doesn't start pointing out his flaws.
"Well... what is it, hm?" Deidara asks, finally. It looks like some of the creepy, imaginary creatures Deidara does, but Tobi won't say that to his face, in case that would offend him. But inwardly, he does see the connection between the supernatural beings Deidara has the creative mind to make up.
"It's, er," Tobi looks down at what he made, thinking long and hard. "It's a monster with ten tails. It has superpowers like it can make huge bombs with the help of its tails and turn it into a beam if it eats it. Also, it has this huge mouth that has a lot of teeth in it, like a shark's."
Deidara turns to face him, and so does Tobi. Only now does he notice that he has an apron on again, but this time it's for cooking. He tries to look innocent, but Deidara seems unimpressed.
There's also something else beneath those sea-blue eyes that make Obito uncomfortable. A strange knowing, a curious glint. Within moments, it's gone and Deidara is left sighing, waving at the mess he made on the wheel.
"It's gross-looking, yeah," he says. "But kudos to you - I didn't think you'd have such a creative imagination, hm."
"Gross-looking?" Tobi sputters, looking down at his work. "It's not gross-looking! It's actually really cool, you know. It's super powerful and... and..."
And what else? It isn't even real.
Deidara raises an eyebrow once again, almost as if he's curious why Obito ignored his compliment, before waving the older boy off with a single sentence. "Dinner's ready, yeah, go wash your hands at the sink over there."
Tobi stops flailing his hands about, lowering them at his sides peacefully as he blinks at the blonde. "Oh, alright," he says, not realizing how long he spent making the clay sculpture. He heads over to the sink once Deidara leaves the room, cleaning his hands thoroughly of clay and even manages to get the annoying bits out from under his nails.
There is a window right above the sink, occupying him while he cleans his hands. The sky outside is dark now, the lights from buildings reflecting onto the sky. Deidara had turned on some of the apartment's light at some point, which shocks Obito when he realizes he doesn't even know it had happened.
The light from inside the apartment reflects on the window pane and it is as if they are hovering mid-air, dangling in the sky like a couple of lone stars that twinkle on their lonesome.
Obito stares for a few moments more before the hunger that resides in his stomach begin to grumble at him. He quickly turns off the tap after he makes sure the soap is all cleaned from his hands, moving to grab the drying cloth that is hanging on the wall beside the window.
As he dries his hands, he could smell dinner in the air. It smells great, too. He wonders if Deidara is talented at even more things than he realized, as though being a talented artist and performer is not enough for the blonde.
Shaking his head slightly, he puts the cloth back. Idly, he pats his hands down his shirt, to get last of the moisture that didn't get soaked up by the drying cloth. It's just a simple habit of his, something that his grandparents have never encouraged and even tried to discourage him from doing it. He just didn't really listen.
As he walks out from the workspace, he could see Deidara setting up the last of the things on the table. It's a modest meal at most, something that a typical high school kid would make. Oh, never mind, there's a fish in there. Obito could never steam fish well enough.
"When'd you buy the fish?" Tobi asks, hurrying over to settle down so that he wouldn't seem rude. He asked only because fishes were hard to keep fresh, and usually, you'd have to eat them the night you buy it.
"I pulled it out of my ass, yeah," Deidara rolls his eyes sarcastically.
"Wow, what else is in that ass of yours? A stick?"
"Don't be fucking gross, hm, eat your dinner," Deidara snaps at him, though despite his tone and words, he's grinning.
"Okay, but tell me what else I can find up in your ass later," Tobi winks, picking up the chopsticks Deidara placed on the table, uttering the traditional "I'm going to eat now" before picking up a piece of fish since Deidara has already filled his bowl with rice.
"Hm," Deidara grunts, taking a spoonful of egg to place in his bowl. "You were originally going to find out for yourself, yeah."
"Oh, so are you flirting with me now?" Obito grins. He feels as though he needs to mind like he has someone else in his heart. Although he cannot bring himself to care - whoever that person is or was (most probably Rin), they're already dead and gone and perhaps it's time to let someone else in his life.
"I guess you'll never find out, hm," the artist replies cheekily.
They lapse into a friendly conversation after that, asking each other what happens in their class and if there is someone they both dislike. They agree that the Zombie Duo, Kakuzu and Hidan, give them both the heebie-jeebies.
Tani Kakuzu and Shobi Hidan are known around the school as the Zombie Duo because of their strange habit of getting into dangerous gang related activities yet coming out completely unscathed. There were a couple of students who said that they witnessed people plummeting the two into bloody pulps even though they return to school the next day completely normal and healthy.
That's probably the beginning of the rumor that the two are undead.
Though there isn't much to do in regards to avoiding them. Kakuzu and Hidan are almost everywhere, and Hidan's loud mouth doesn't really help it either. Besides, they're friends with Nagato and Yahiko, so Obito really can't avoid it when Hidan recognizes him in the school hallways.
At least Kakuzu is quiet.
"What about Zetsu, hm?" Deidara asks. "You seem really close with the two of them."
"Only Jozetsu," Tobi replies around a mouthful of food - something that Deidara doesn't seem to mind. "Dokuzetsu doesn't really like me. I can tell. It's never straight answers with that dude."
Deidara scoffs. "Do they do weird twin stuff, hm?"
"Like what? Answer your questions at the same time? One feels it when the other gets punched?" Obito suggests, then taps his chin thoughtfully, then he reaches for the rice paddle to fill his bowl again. "Nah, but they do finish each other's sentences like they share the same mind."
"Creepy, hm," he shakes his head, blonde hair bouncing a little.
"Actually, the creepiest part is that Jozetsu is a completely different person when Dokuzetsu isn't around. We all know he's a big man-child, but he's even more unhinged when his brother is gone. The entire thing feels like Dokuzetsu is controlling Jozetsu."
Deidara watches him for a moment, seeming as though he wants to retort but finds that he does not know the twins nearly as well as Obito, so he gives it up and shrugs. "Just proves my point of them being creepy, yeah."
"Hm," Tobi pauses. "You're right."
"Of course I'm right, now finish the fish, it would go bad before I can eat it tomorrow, hm."
By the time they have the dinner table cleaned up, Obito couldn't really spend any more time fixing up his sculpture of the monster with ten tails. In fact, he has almost completely forgotten about it, sitting around with Deidara on the sofa talking about nothing in particular.
They have the TV on in the background, showing some random game show. Neither of them is really paying attention, however, more interested in sitting sideways on the couch to face each other as they converse.
More than once Deidara has gotten annoyed at something Tobi has said and reached out to slap him wherever he could reach, only leaving the other man laughing heartily at the action.
Everything feels warm and right, and Obito notices everything that Deidara does. The only thing he doesn't notice is the flow of time around them. His phone vibrates in his pant pocket and he is startled out of his reverie, having decided that Deidara's grin is much more aesthetically pleasing than anything else he has ever seen in his life.
He fishes out his phone hastily, shocked to find that it's his grandmother calling. He checks the time quickly and realizes it's pretty late already, which makes his grandmother's call much less annoying. He quickly answers the phone and reaches out to place a hand on Deidara's knee in apology for cutting him off.
"Grandma?" Obito answers, hearing his grandmother ask him gently on if he's planning to return home or not.
He glances at Deidara, thinking for a moment. "Yeah, I'll be coming back. There's school tomorrow, after all."
"Alright, will you be coming back soon?" his grandmother asks.
"Yeah, I will. Actually, I'm just about to leave now. I'll come back in around twenty minutes," Obito replies, agreeing with whatever else his grandmother might be saying and then hangs up swiftly. He looks up at Deidara as he slides his phone into his pocket, "I have to go."
"Yeah, okay," Deidara nods, almost seeming like he's sad. As though he's losing something that he's just found. Obito ignores the feeling of melancholy and squeezes Deidara's knee, ignoring the way the blonde's skin feels hot against his own. He stands up and grabs his jackets, putting them on.
Deidara stands to watch him, and Obito feels just a little self-conscious with a pair of brilliant blue eyes on him. After he shifts to make the jackets lie comfortably on his shoulder, he reaches for his messenger bag before Deidara's dainty hand brushes against his to grab it for him.
"I'll see you tomorrow, then, yeah?" Deidara asks as he holds the bag out for the taller man.
Obito accepts it with a grin, pulling the strap over his head and resting it on his shoulder. "Of course you'll see me tomorrow, we're going to the same school, duh," Obito reaches out and pokes Deidara's forehead, leaving the blonde pouting.
They say their goodbyes and Obito leaves the apartment door, Deidara shutting it behind him. As he walks down the darkened hallway to the elevator, Obito would never know that Deidara will spend the rest of the night looking at his sculpture of the monster with ten tails, blue eyes distant.
88
In the three weeks they've begun hanging out with each other, today is the third time Deidara has actively decided to seek Obito out himself, and the first time he steps foot into his classroom.
Although Deidara rarely sets foot in the mathematics part of the school - he mentioned before that he hates maths - Obito observes that even his classmates know who the fiery blonde is.
He's in the middle of packing up his messenger bag, since the bell just rang, to begin his trek over to the art department when he catches a flash of gold in the corner of his eye, turning to see Deidara struggle through some other leaving students in order to get into the classroom.
"Hey," he says once he is close enough to hear him, feeling warm when Deidara immediately smiles and hurries over to his desk. Obito could see that he's already carrying his own school bag.
Deidara rests his hands on the desk, huffing as he makes an offhanded comment about how fucking rude his classmates were by trying to force through him to get out of the classroom. Meanwhile, Obito could see that his other classmates that are still in the room are beginning to notice that Deidara is inside - and talking to Obito.
They crowd in a corner, making cooing noises and laugh amongst each other. Obito swears he could hear something like "new boyfriend" and "really throws himself at whatever guy he can reach" in the middle of those noises.
But Deidara doesn't seem to care even though Obito is pretty sure he could hear them as well. He spares the small crowd a glance before turning back to look at Deidara, who is currently running a hand through his hair. Obito watches his hair fall back into place gracefully, like an endless, flowing curtain of golden sand.
The moment Deidara speaks up again, however, breaks the focus and Obito turns his attention back to what Deidara is saying.
"Do you have anything to do later? Or, I mean, right now, yeah," Deidara asks, though it doesn't feel like a question when he trails off at the end.
Tobi laughs, shoving the last book into his bag. "What do you have planned?"
"Well, I had been meaning to go to an art museum recently, since they've opened a new exhibit, hm," Deidara says, looking down at his suddenly very interesting fingers and trying his best not to stare at anywhere that is Obito's person. "I've been busy with practice and the show, and today they're letting us off, yeah. But Sasori's being a fucking dick and won't go with me, so I thought..."
Obito needn't hear any more to know where this is going. He laughs again, slinging his messenger bag over his shoulder and grins down at Deidara, nodding once. "Sure, I've got nothing else to do, anyway," he replies. "But you're paying for dinner!"
Deidara looks up at him, as though he is shocked the Tobi is saying yes. He smiles in return when the moment finally sinks into him, turning around promptly and saying "come on, then, yeah" before darting out the door.
"Wow, he really knows how to choose them," Obito hears someone say as he walks toward the entrance of the classroom, but Deidara is already outside, so Tobi decides not to waste any more time to tell some random classmate off and follows suit.
How Deidara manages to fend off and ignore every single person who decides to be annoying and bring up the only thing that sets you apart from what the rest of the world thinks is "normal" every possible second, Obito could not tell. But he can tell that Deidara is much happier being himself, so he does not question it.
Obito manages to catch up to Deidara and settles at a comfortable pace beside the other man. "Yo, you have to buy me a dango on the way," Tobi says as casually as he could, without sounding too smug.
"No eating in the museum, hmm," Deidara replies, trying to sound gruff and serious, though he just sounds slightly out of breath from walking down the stairs.
"Aw, please," Tobi whines, stretching the syllable for as long as possible until Deidara finally relents, sighing dramatically and growling at the taller man.
"Alright, alright," he huffs, pushing Tobi away. He swears to never refuse Tobi's request for dango ever again, seeing as once he's agreed, Tobi has already run down the stairs to the school canteen to get himself a box. Deidara rubs his temples, the annoying tenor of Tobi's whine making his head throb.
Deidara walks up next to Tobi after that, standing next to him as the school staff hands him the box of his dango sticks. Deidara huffs when the taller man just gives him a grin, digging into his pockets to fish out a hundred dollar bill to cover the cost. He gets his change and the two continue on their way to the school gate.
Obito unboxes the dangos quickly, grabbing a skewer and grinning at the sight of the sauce covered snack. He takes the first bite and makes a sound of approval, licking his lips to catch any of the sauce that has escaped.
"Hm," Deidara hums to himself, reaching over and grabbing a stick from the box. He ignores Tobi's protests and quickly retorts that he paid for it, and takes a bite for himself. "The school's only good at making these unhealthy snacks for us kids, yeah."
"Hey, I'm not complaining about good food," Tobi laughs, taking another bite.
As soon as they approach the school gates, however, Deidara seems to tense and Tobi could immediately sense the shift in the air. Obito turns only to find a pale boy staring back at them, face contorted in an unseemly grin.
He somehow reminds Obito of a snake. The Uchiha's eyes narrow, recalling the only graduate that still lingers in every student's memories.
Deidara seems to realize what is about to happen, even though Obito has no idea, and tugs at Tobi's arm. "Let's go, hm," Deidara grunts urgently, trying to lead the older boy away from an inevitable fight.
"Hey," the pale man rasps, the strangeness of his voice catching both of the students' attentions and Obito stops dead in his tracks, causing Deidara to bump into him and ultimately having to turn around to face the person of interest.
"Orochimaru, yeah," Deidara replies gruffly, tone hard and unyielding.
Obito knows that name and the person. He turns and sure enough, he finds Sasuke standing just a few paces behind them, Orochimaru having approached them to get them within earshot. He turns his attention back to Orochimaru, taking in the boney structure of the graduate and the sickly pale skin.
Hell, he doubts that Jozetsu is even this pale.
He could see the veins in the man's more-bone-than-flesh hands, and his long, dark hair looks almost fake in the way it contrasts with his skin. Those eyes don't settle Obito either. They've got a strange hunger to them, a strange glow that makes looking at them like flirting with death.
And Obito knows it's contacts lenses that are making his pupils slits like a cat's, but it stills unsettles him.
"You've got a new boyfriend, I see," Orochimaru is, however, not paying any attention to Obito. He grits his teeth at the comment but with Deidara's hand tightening around his arm - oh, he didn't even realize Deidara didn't let go - he knows enough to keep his mouth shut. "You're moving on quite quickly."
Deidara scoffs, and though he seems like he's confident in the conversation, he takes a step back from the sickly man and deeper into Obito's personal space. "I don't see what I could have moved on from, hm," Deidara sneers, his other hand clenching the dango skewer so tightly that his knuckles have turned white.
Obito worries for half a second that Deidara might be considering stabbing the stick into Orochimaru's eye. He also worries that he wouldn't really want to protest against the action. Just the mere presence of Orochimaru is enough to cause anyone to feel irritated at the air of superiority the pale graduate seems to think he has over everyone else.
Orochimaru isn't deterred from the attempted insult - Obito thinks it's an insult, he doesn't have much knowledge of Deidara's previous dating history - and continues on as though Deidara hasn't said anything at all.
"You sure do have a taste in boys," Orochimaru waves his hand. "They're all so brooding."
"He's not-" Deidara tries to say, visibly growing irritated, but Obito places a hand on Deidara's shoulder and cuts him off, urging his schoolmate to save it. He knows Orochimaru isn't someone to really tangle with.
Deidara clicks his tongue, letting Obito step forward. "Listen," Obito says slowly, chewing on the remaining bits of his dango. "You got the same taste in boys, too. So I don't think you're in any position to insult him."
Before Orochimaru could respond, however, Obito twists his arms out of Deidara's grasp and takes hold of his wrist, leading the younger away from the school gate, ending the conversation abruptly with the help of saying, "we'll be leaving, then."
"Have fun on your fucking date," Orochimaru shouts when they're far enough away from the gate.
"Yeah, we will," Obito shouts back, flipping Orochimaru off even if he's not sure the man would even see it.
Deidara watches Obito for the longest time, long after they've left the school's vicinity. But when he doesn't say anything all the while, Tobi doesn't think it's his right to urge him.
Obito doesn't exactly know where to go, so he lets go of Deidara's wrist and let the man lead him through the station. Though it must be his imagination, Deidara seems reluctant to be walking in front of Tobi, as if he misses the feeling of Tobi's hand near his. But the feeling is as fleeting as Deidara's art philosophy and the artist heads deeper into the subway station.
Tobi follows him as always, barely paying attention to their surroundings. He is more interested in Deidara, instead. "Hey, you alright?" Obito asks, hurrying his footsteps just a little to catch up to Deidara, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Huh?" Deidara turns almost aggressively toward him, eyes wide, as though he had not expected Obito to be standing right there next to him. "Oh, nothing. I'm fine, yeah."
But there's something about the way he said it that made Tobi frown, staring intently as he waits for Deidara to continue even if he doesn't want to.
Deidara seems to sense this and sighs. "Fine, yeah," he grumbles. "One of the then-seniors threw a karaoke party, I met Orochimaru there. He was dabbling with some drugs and asked if my classmates and I wanted some. I said no and apparently that wasn't an answer he was looking for, hm."
Deidara swiped his card and entered the station, walking slowly in wait for Tobi. Once he catches up, Deidara continues. "I think that might have offended him a lot, hmm. Anyway, he must have thought Itachi and I were pals - which we aren't, hm - because he was trying to sell his drugs to him instead and glaring at me all the time, all smug-like, yeah."
Obito scoffs. "Then Itachi refused him and Orochimaru went after his little brother instead."
"I think that's what happened, yeah," Deidara mumbles, thinking for a moment. "Oh yeah, Itachi is your cousin, right? Does he ever bad-mouth me, hmm?"
"Itachi? No, we don't talk much. Even if we do, he doesn't talk about his friends," Obito shakes his head. "He's a really weird kid. I think he's gone into some sort of madness when he realized he lost his brother."
"But Sasuke shouldn't get any pity, hm," Deidara says, crossing his arms as they wait for the train to arrive at the gate, lining up behind important looking people. Everyone in this city is dressed up so formally, staring down at their glowing screens cast pale lights onto their face, their eyes vacant. "He should be really dumb for following Orochimaru."
Tobi lets out a good-natured laugh, uncaring of the way others look up at the sudden sound. "He is, isn't he?" he nods, agreeing. "Orochimaru is so obviously bad news and he somehow thinks it's cool and hipster to be with him. I think it's just his way of getting back at his older brother, and to get the attention he didn't have as a kid."
"Weird, hmm," Deidara says under his breath as the digital voice announces that the train is arriving. The sound of the wheels on the rail is pretty loud and Tobi turns his head to watch the train come, going from a pinprick of light to a zooming train in seconds. The wind from the approaching train causes some people to complain momentarily about their hair, but once the gates open, the sound of people shuffling out is enough to drown out everything.
The passengers on the platform wait patiently for the passengers onboard to get off before they themselves head inside. It is cool inside the cart, the lights offering them an almost cold atmosphere. They manage to find some seats and settle down, moving their messenger bag onto their laps when Deidara mentions to Tobi that it's a long train ride.
The cold metal seats are a shock in the winter. He could feel it through his thick winter pants. And though it is the beginning of rush hour, it seems like not a lot of people decided to sit on this train - that, or there really weren't that many people onboard.
The train is quiet, though it is to be expected. Everyone is either looking down at their phones, scrolling through endless miles with their thumbs, reading a book, or whispering in hushed tones to their friends. There isn't much noise to really indicate that it's alright for them to talk in the open.
Once the train begins to start up, the initial jerk of motion cause Deidara to collide into Tobi. He gathers himself quickly enough, though Obito couldn't help but grin oafishly at the sight of him panicking. He stops pestering him when Deidara makes it a point to not looking at his direction, making him wonder if he is regretting the choice of asking him to come with him.
A lady's voice once again rings through the cart once again, announcing the arrival of the next station. It isn't the stop, so Obito barely pays it any mind as the train comes to a halt, doors sliding open to allow passengers to get off and get on. The voice calls out again, warning people to stand back from the closing doors before sounding an alarm as the door clamps shut.
Obito is used to these noises, quickly becoming bored as his mind goes over the spoken words. Deidara doesn't seem to want to talk over the rather comfortable silence of the train, the occasional hum and pitched noise of the wheels against the rail, so Obito doesn't force him, pulling out his phone to idly scroll through his social media.
Once again on social media, he recalls reading an article about the firework festival the first time he heard about Deidara. He quickly glances at him, who looks lost in his own world, blue eyes holding an unreadable emotion. He quickly exits the app he's in and heads to a browser, looking for the exact town and date.
A couple of stops later, Obito manages to find what he's looking for. It's on for the entire two weeks, allowing visitors plenty of time to go if they so wish. They're on holiday by then, Obito confirms with himself by double-checking the school calendar. He could ask...
Well, he's asking only because it seems like something Deidara would clearly enjoy, nothing more. There really isn't any reason for him to go alone. None of these festivals are fun without a friend or two by your side. Tobi somehow is never good at making friends, not good at keeping anyone by his side.
Well, there are two, but Zetsu would definitely not go with him. They'd probably wonder why they would spend two entire days simply traveling to the town and back. If they are to go elsewhere in Japan for their winter holiday, they would most likely choose some place much closer - and much more interesting.
Fireworks, perhaps, aren't as exciting as they were when they were younger. The sense of awe diminishes over time, the passage of days making everything seem more mundane and dull, until there is nothing you can get a hold of will stop the numbness.
The cart rocks when the train emerges from underground, traveling at a speed through the city of Tokyo. Obito looks up briefly to watch the skyline, eyes focused on the way the sunlight reflects the windows of the skyscrapers, like millions of golden nuggets plastered across the buildings. Shadows flicker in the cart, and it is only when the sun stretches his that he realizes Deidara has fallen asleep.
His head rests on his shoulder, probably lolled down from the first tumble of the cart. Obito turns to watch the head of golden hair, wondering if he should wake him. No, Obito thinks. He thinks he knows where the stop is, something called Meguro or that sort. He'd just have to pay attention for both of them, then.
He moves his hands slowly, letting go of his phone on his right hand to minimize the movement of his shoulder just in case it wakes Deidara. He taps on his phone with his free hand then, quickly heading toward the phone app to call his grandmother.
As he speaks gently to his grandmother over the phone, mindful of his tone, he continues to focus on the way the city rushes past as he responds.
Some of the skyscrapers' windows are so polished, he could practically use it as a mirror. It reflects the sky perfectly, down to every cloud. He watches them through the windows, almost wonder-like. His grandmother wishes him well and tells him to have fun, and Obito barely registers it as he gives out the generic response and tells her goodbye.
He moves his gaze down as he lowers his hand, the call having been cut. He could see the train, but it almost seems like it's staying still due to the sheer size of the building. Though Obito knows it's just an optical illusion, as the tower is quite far away, it does seem like the building is following them, filling him with some sort of childlike glee.
And Tobi could swear that he could see inside the reflected train's cabin, that he could see himself and Deidara.
That his face is orange, and that Deidara is wearing his straw hat. He could also see that they're wearing matching uniforms that has nothing to do with school. Instead of their simple white dress shirt with the school logo and thick black pants, they are wearing a black cloak that is decorated with red clouds, accented with white.
Frowning, Obito immediately turns his gaze from the building to look down at himself. He finds himself wearing their school uniform, his thick jacket hugging his shoulders to ward off the cold. His eyebrows come together as he tries to make sense of it, blinking multiple times before looking back up at the building to confirm.
But the building has passed in that time, revealing nothing but a city line. Instead, the angle has changed to where the buildings behind them manage to block out the sun. He could see their reflection in the opposite window pane, once again showing the same outfit.
It's the same outfit as... as with his other dreams. Obito tries to make sense of it all despite his confusion and sudden sense of dizziness, but the reflection seems vivid enough. The train rocks once and everything around him flickers. When he once again focuses on their reflection, everything has turned back to normal. His reflection is wearing his school uniform and nothing seems out of place.
Feeling awfully disorientated and possibly even going to develop a killer headache if he thinks about it any more, Obito sighs dramatically and rests his head on his messenger bag, trying to stop his mind from hurting itself in its confusion.
He must have stayed like that for quite some time, staring at the ground as though there is some picture show displayed across the marbled floor of the train because, by the time he came to, Deidara is already awake and lightly prodding him in the side.
Obito blinks and watches Deidara, and the two lock gazes for a while, just simply staring and not saying anything. Eventually, Tobi's eyebrows furrow and his confusion must have brought Deidara back from whatever reverie he is having, for he turns away and gestures to a random window.
Tobi thinks he's trying to point at the LED display for the next stop.
"We're almost there, yeah," Deidara says hurriedly, leaning back against his seat as he puts his hand back down. "It's the next stop."
"Okay," Tobi says, cheerily. He takes a look at the LED display and makes a note of the station name. Meguro Station, huh?
Obito isn't quite familiar with places around Japan despite living in the country. He doesn't go out much, ever since he moved to Tokyo. He just didn't see the point to, leaving the city unexplored. Until the second year of high school, Obito didn't have any friends. Even when he starting spending time with Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan, enough so that they could be considered more than just acquaintances, he didn't really go out of his way to hang out with them during the weekends, or the holidays.
He didn't have any real friends. He still doesn't, knowing that Dokuzetsu isn't exactly thrilled to have him around, despite Jozetsu's eagerness.
He frowns, glancing at Deidara. Perhaps... Ah, what is he thinking? Snapping himself out of that particular thought, he notices the rapidly approaching station and gets up when Deidara does, trailing after him like a lost puppy to stand by the train doors.
When the train reaches the station, they walk out in an orderly fashion to head toward the exit, Tobi looking around the area meanwhile.
"Say, do you come here often?" Tobi asks, turning to face Deidara.
"Not that often, yeah," Deidara responds, looking at the direction plate to confirm which exit they're heading out. He pokes Tobi's arm when he doesn't get the cue to start moving and together they walk out of the station, hobbling through the gates. "Actually, I don't think I ever came here."
"Then how do you know to come here?" Tobi continues the conversation once they reach the streets, squinting his eyes against the remaining rays of the sun. He doesn't even know where the museum is, so he's stuck to wonder behind Deidara, making sure he wouldn't lose him in the crowd.
"I follow an artist on social media and he posted a few months ago that he would have a few pieces of his art moved over to be displayed at the Meguro Museum of Art, hm. I've been following him for a while now, and I'm very interested in his art series - he calls it the 'Sharingan' series, so I wanted to know if it's truly that good, yeah," Deidara says.
So, he wants to see if his artwork can be compared to those of the creator of the 'Sharingan' series, huh? Tobi looks at Deidara curiously, wondering why he often needs such validation. Deidara must know that his artwork is truly amazing, right?
He keeps silent on his thoughts and simply nods in response to Deidara's words. "So you're just going to the museum for the temporary exhibition?" Tobi asks instead. "Is there anything else in the museum?"
"Well, yeah," Deidara says pointedly, apparently already annoyed at the fact that Tobi is clearly clueless about how art museum works. "It's a museum. There are permanent collections in their gallery and sometimes they either lend exhibits from other museums or accept/invite independent artists' work to be displayed, hm."
"Huh," Obito nods, dodging a worried-looking woman as she rushes down the street. "That's interesting, I guess."
"You don't care, do you, hmm?" Deidara says accusingly and he would wave a finger in his face if they aren't walking on a busy Tokyo street.
"No! Of course, I care. I always care about what senpai cares about," Tobi says in a teasing, sing-song voice. He laughs at Deidara's halfhearted attempts at swatting him away and they travel the rest of the way in fits of laughter, catching the attention of some passersby.
After around a ten-minute walk from the station, twisting and turning to heaven knows where they finally come to the museum. It isn't awfully impressive, but Obito isn't one to judge on exterior appearances. He follows Deidara's lead and enters the building, noting the concrete and perhaps even wondering if it's built a long time ago.
The familiar hushed tone that comes along with the atmosphere of museums is something Obito has expected the moment Deidara mentioned it. While he hasn't been in many museums in his lifetime, Obito isn't a stranger to the respectful silence in admiring some form of art.
A library could quite possibly be viewed as a museum of some sort, only that you can touch the exhibits and bring them home with you. It does carry a similar hush and a sense of importance when you enter its premises, however.
During his time in simply getting lost in the museum's air, Obito manages to completely be oblivious to Deidara purchasing the entrance ticket. It isn't really that expensive per person, but Tobi feels slightly guilty for not paying attention and making Deidara pay for the both of them.
Deidara simply ignores his whispered protests and immediately heads upstairs. It seems like he knows where he is going, so Tobi promptly shuts up before he manages to ditch him. He doesn't want to get lost in this three-story building. It would be the most embarrassing for him to wander around, not knowing what to do with himself.
He has never been to an art museum before, after all.
With some twists and turns after heading up the stairs, Deidara comes to a stop in front of a giant red ball held up by a plastic stand. A single thin line wraps around the front of the ball, three comma-shaped dots painted along the line to surround the bigger dot in the front. It almost looks like an eyeball.
It seems... very familiar.
That horrific eye. The single eye lodged in the weird, cone shaped body. Except this one is red, sending an undignified shiver down his spine. It almost feels like it is looking right at him, despite being an inanimate object.
Stopping right next to Deidara, he rubs his temples in order to soothe a headache that is already beginning to form, his gaze focusing solely on the sculpture.
Deidara is oddly quiet, just studying the thing with an unreadable expression on his face. But, as Obito turns to look at him in order to distract himself from the artwork, it seems to him that it isn't a positive expression, isn't of someone who's allowing himself to openly admire the work.
"This isn't the only one he's done, yeah," Deidara says when he sees that Tobi is looking at his direction, waving his hand to point at many other exhibitions that display a similar red circle, or sphere, but they all hold multiple designs on the front.
It seems like they all have names, too. Huh, this selection seems interesting. Obito wanders over to an area Deidara pointed out, reading the tag underneath.
Mangekyo Sharingan...
What an... interesting name. Obito squeezes his eyes shut when another stabbing pain shoots through his temples. His mind's eye has the image burned, forever focusing on it.
Obito remembers gazing into the red sphere - spheres, there are two of them... like eyeballs - and feeling a sinister feeling crawl up his spine. The power they held, the wisdom they had...
He remembers gazing into the mirror, his own eye glowing red. Only one.
Reaching up, Obito feelings a stinging feeling in his left eye, but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it. He eventually just settles with pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to will the headache away.
Eventually, it does. The stabbing pain in his head subsides when Deidara comes up next to him, almost like he himself cannot bear to be alone. He glares at the artwork hung up on the wall, the spotlight reflecting the hatred in his eyes.
Obito lets his hand fall back to his side, a curious expression now on his face. Why does Deidara look like he wants to rip these pieces of artwork down and burn it? Wasn't he interested in the artwork?
But then again, just because you're interested doesn't mean that you have to like it...
Tobi decides to keep his questions to himself, thinking much more clearly now that his head is no longer killing him. He refrains from staring at the artwork any longer, determined that is the cause of his discomfort. Instead, he watches Deidara.
His beauty would suffice as a replacement for the dangerous strength of the artwork that this mysterious artist created. Tobi could not care one bit about the 'Sharingan,' or its ocular powers and beauty.
Eventually, Deidara has had his full of simply looking at the artwork and declares to Tobi that he's done and that they should leave. Tobi agrees happily and trails after Deidara, but not before glancing at the artist's name before they leave the area altogether.
Uchiha Madara.
Obito isn't disturbed at the same last name. There are millions of people who share the same last name yet are not related at all. However, the emotions he feels rushing through him at the mere glance of the words made him uneasy.
He feels grateful yet at the same time angry, a feeling of betrayal rushing through his veins. He feels as though he is supposed to fear this name, yet also finds that this name is something that has protected him for a long time, that had helped him.
Obito shakes the feeling off, hurrying after Deidara, who had gone on ahead without him when he stopped walking.
After catching up, Tobi doesn't say anything when it feels like Deidara is staying a little bit closer to him than usual.
It is only a matter of time.
Hey guys, Red here!
Aw man, it's been like, what, nearly five, six months since the last update? I'm so sorry for the delay, but I've been busy... doing stuff. Er, I've been busy doing nothing. But listen, from February to April, I had been busy with exams and after it finished, I basically 'partied' my way through to July.
While writing this, I encountered several difficulties which might have made this chapter rather bad. First of all, it had been a while since I started this chapter and I often forget what I've written, which would break continuity. I keep having to go back and search for things which take up time, making the chapter sit longer than necessary. Secondly, I originally planned for this fic to be only three chapters long. However, you can see that it is no longer the case. I have planned for several things to happen during this chapter but once halfway through the dinner scene and beginning the museum scene, I realized that it will become way too long. I have separated the ideas now and this will become a five chapter fic.
Third of all, I have re-written the encounter with Orochimaru many times. It is important enough for me to want to keep it in since it shows you the attachment between Tobi and Deidara, but somehow I can't seem to portray the pseudo-homophobic comments they're making with English. It feels much more offensive and aggressive in my mother language, which is similar to Japanese.
Anyway, this chapter has become way longer than I thought it would be, so editing it was a pain. I had Grammarly run through the basic grammar issues, but I didn't get to personally read through it thoroughly myself. I read through the first part and the encounter with Orochimaru multiple times, but that's about it. If there are any issues you find during the train ride and the museum visit itself (due to me finishing that scene at 1 am), then apologizes for that.
I'll start working on Chapter 4 post-haste.
Thanks for reading and feel free to drop a review,
-redskiez:)
