Disclaimer: Loveless - Yun Koga
Claimer: I own the plot and OCs; nothing more, nothing less.
Warning: AU; no characters from Loveless
Pairings: OCOC, SasuOC
"I knew I shouldn't have let you choose something first. That shirt isn't youthful. It doesn't match you at all… well, more like it brings out the worst aspects of your personality."
I ended up doing what Hide wanted me to. I'm trying on shirts that I want, and now he's giving me "criticism" about my choices. All I chose was a black shirt with white vine-designs.
I guess Hide must've gotten some shirts while I was changing quickly. He sets down a few shirts on the chair. I pull one from the top and crinkle my nose immediately. What I have is a gray shirt that has nice feather designs, but it's a v-neck that will probably reach down to my clavicle. I normally have shirts that only lie at my neck.
"Do you like that one? I think that you should take my advice and try on a v-neck. Like I said before, you don't have much of a chest so it'll bring out the cuteness that I see in you," Hide says with a genuine smile.
I don't know how he does it, but I feel my human ears get a little red. I can also feel my cat ears lie against my head and my tail sticks close to my legs in embarrassment. Hide puts the shirts in my arms and shoves me back into the dressing room, although he doesn't really go inside. I shuffle my feet to waste time.
When I get into the dressing room, I set the pile of shirts down. I take off my own shirt and then stare at my stomach in the mirror. I trace the letters, "Timeless", with my fingers. Now is the time where I feel guilty for having snapped at Sasuke when I should've calmly told him what the situation was.
My phone goes off. It's a little tune from Peter Pan, called Never Land. I take my phone, my heart thumping quickly. I feel disappointed when I see Hide's name on the screen.
Hurry up!
I huff. I end up speaking out loud to Hideyoshi saying that I'm going as fast as I can, and not to text me when he's on the other side of the door. I grab the shirt that I first pulled out when Hide put them in front of me. I heave a sigh of defeat and put it on. I stare at myself for a moment, thinking that Hide is right. I look a bit cuter with this somewhat small V-neck.
I come outside and I can see an arrogant and triumphant smirk gracing the boy's visage.
"I knew I would be right. But now that people will see how cute you are like I do, that's going to make me very unhappy. Who knows, though, you might like the attention. Now try on the others!"
Hide shoves me back into the dressing room. I feel my head spin, and I crinkle my nose at myself when I see a blush gracing my cheeks. I take off the shirt and try on the rest, only to get Hide's weird approval. I go ahead and pay for the shirts, believing that I would look nicer if this crazy boy says so.
"Let's go get some ice cream, Haru-chan."
"I already got some before."
"So? There can never be too much of a good thing~!"
"Actually, you can have too much. It makes you throw up. It's not healthy, too."
"Tch, don't be a smart alec, Haru-chan. Just get some ice cream with me, will you? Don't be a Debbie-downer."
And that's just what I did and didn't do. I wasn't a Debbie-downer so I got some more ice cream with Hide. Normally, I don't have a lot of sugar because I tend to get a bit hyperactive. This isn't an exception. I turn out to have somewhat of a fast personality like that of Hide, and I find out that he doesn't necessarily like that.
It's not my fault he pushed me into getting more ice cream.
Hide ends up taking me home, but when we're halfway there I stop with my overactive energy. I practically start to drag my feet, my tail hanging, and my ears drooping to boot with my slouching stature. Hide seems to enjoy me being anything but hyper, and he's back to his old self.
"If you're so tired, let's lie down. We did do a lot of walking."
"Wait, what? Lie down where?"
The in between from Konoha to my house is basically nothing but fields of grass. There are occasionally fences to keep in animals, but that's about it. There isn't a lot of farming going on around my neighborhood. I glance at the grass nearby, since we're near a field with no fences. The grass is tall and almost healthily green.
Hide takes a seat. I crinkle my nose, my tail twitching nervously as I see some gnats fly up into the air. Hide ends up grabbing my hand and pulling me down. I roughly fall onto my hands, sending a painful sting into my wrists. I frown but sit down properly anyway, rubbing down my wrists afterwards.
Hide shoves me back so that I lie down. He lays himself back, too, and puts his hands under his head with a content sigh. I blink with uncertainty, but decide that it's alright to relax, even if I'm around Hide.
"You know, after the party, Sterling said that you two are just gonna be friends now."
"We were friends to begin with," I retort, feeling the same defensive attitude begin to bounce back from when I fought with Sasuke.
"Yeah, but you two were friendly-friends. I think now he wants to be the kind of friends who pass each other in the hallway and hardly give a glance."
"That's nice…" I mumble, not really having the capability to care at the moment. I think that it might be best.
"I think that's nice more than you do. Now I don't have to worry about fighting my cousin, that there was much to fight anyway."
"Stop bringing that kind of stuff up," I almost beg. I roll onto my side so that my back is facing Hide. I start to fiddle with some grass that almost looks like a flower. "I would've thought you'd learn after a Fighter in a Unit punched you."
"Mm, I don't have much luck when I try out some Sacrifices. I normally do better with Fighters. I like the spark they have, like you," Hide says. I think I can feel and see the grin in his voice.
I choose not to say anything. I close my eyes instead. I let my tail lie out flat and my ears span out a little so that I can soak up the sun's warm rays. It's not very windy, and from what I saw there were a few cotton-ball-clouds up in the blue sky. I heave a content and quiet sigh as I go ahead and listen to the bugs making sounds in the grass.
It may sound crazy, but I feel like I don't have to try as hard to be casual around Hide as I do with Sasuke.
I shouldn't think like that. Sasuke is my Sacrifice, I have to choose him over everyone, I reprise myself as I lay there, Hide being quiet for once.
I find myself starting to drift off, but it would seem that the universe doesn't want me to.
"Haruka?"
My ears prick up immediately at my name being said. I pick up my head and lazily look to see who it is. It's Sasuke looking at me with confusion, slight shock, and anger. I blink warily at him, wondering what he's doing here. From my peripheral vision, I can see Hide sitting up straight already.
Oh, so that's what got Sasuke's eyes filled with some anger.
"Oh, hi there Sasuke. Wanna lie down and take a nap?" I ask, setting my head back down, still feeling so tired.
"I see you got your shirts… I didn't know that you were going to meet up with Hide to do it," Sasuke trails off.
"I didn't plan it," I reply, immediately finding myself sitting up. I remembered that I have to apologize to Sasuke for not being patient with him when he can't help having the personality he has.
"I was actually getting some stuff, too, and I ran into Haruka. I thought it would be nice to talk to her," Hide explains further with a friendly smile.
Basically, he's saying that he can't see me on the street and not say hi since he knows me.
"I actually have to walk this way to get to my house, and I decided to walk with Haruka. Gets kinda lonely without my cousin Sterling around, you know? Seems she's worn out from getting shirts. It looks like she's such a shut-in; I thought it would be nice to just bask in the sun."
The last two statements Hide made fit my personality pretty well, so there's no reason for Sasuke to think that there's something going on. Going shopping does wear me out if it's dragged out longer than I want, and I do normally stay indoors.
Hideyoshi decides he'll stand up. He pats his behind of any grass. I start to get up and find a hand being offered to me. When I look up its Sasuke giving me a blank stare. I take his hand and he helps me up, his grip more firm than I think it should be, although it's not in a bad way at all. He doesn't hold my hand longer than he needs to, though, and he lets go when I'm standing up. I have to pat away any grass on me, too.
"Ah, could you go ahead for a bit and we'll catch up, Hide? I gotta tell Sasuke something," I ask politely and with an apologetic smile. Hide gives an understanding smile and says, "Yeah, sure, of course I can."
Sasuke and I watch Hide walk ahead. When I decide that he's mostly out of ear-shot, I turn to Sasuke and he turns to me. Before he can say anything I apologize by saying, "I'm sorry for getting angry when you were the one that felt wronged. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, you should be."
Wait, what? I ask myself, feeling a twitch coming on.
"But I should also apologize, too. I shouldn't have said that stuff that I did… and that's all you're getting out of me."
Regardless of my previous annoyance, I feel myself slowly smile. My ears lie back and the tip of my tail moves back and forth. Sasuke blinks at me, as if wondering why I'm smiling or like he hasn't apologized to me at all. I enjoyed his apology even if it wasn't much, and I might not hear something like that very often.
"Let's catch up with Hide, 'kay? It's rude to keep him walking by himself," I suggest with the same smile as I start walking, making Sasuke walk in tow with me.
I think he almost sounds like he's whining when he says, "Do we have to? He's annoying…"
"Look, to show how apologetic I am I'll let you make up for my time spent with Sterling. You can… flirt with Sakura or Ino if you want to," I say, trying to make a light and funny atmosphere; at least, as much as Sasuke's personality permits. He's rather serious after all.
But when I say that, I immediately regret it. What if he agrees? Just suggesting it to him makes me feel sick to my stomach. It's like the name Timeless is punching my gut to remind me that I belong to him, or that we belong together so I shouldn't try to change that with the off-chance it might work.
"No, that's not even funny."
I feel my heart jump with elation that Sasuke doesn't want to do that. I have to keep a mental note not to make a suggestion like that again. I glance at Sasuke to see that he looks troubled. I hope he isn't thinking that I'm trying to find a way to separate us, or make this not work out.
"Alright, alright, I didn't know that they were that intolerable," I say with another light and joking tone.
"Who's intolerable?" Hide asks, turning back since we're now in earshot and so we catch up to him, with Hide falling in step beside Sasuke.
"Sakura and Ino are intolerable," I answer.
"You know it! That kind of thing exceeds their being obsessed with the Uchiha here."
Sasuke scowls. Hide laughs, and it causes me to laugh. I think that Hide is too good at making Sasuke think that there's nothing going on. I would tell him, but I don't want Sasuke mad at me… at all.
Dear God, I'm SO sorry it's been a long time since I've updated this series. It'll probably be a long time again, since I'm starting college in about six days from the day I got this published. That means MUCH LESS updates. I sincerely apologize! I hope you guys somewhat enjoyed this story, though! I'll continue to try to write!
I want reviews.