(Oh my, Akuma has titled all the chapters... really... randomly...)

Chances arethis chapter is really fucked up. Uhh... I've been listening to J'Lostein a lot recently and it's messing with my mind. No, SHE is. But that's beside the point. The POINT is that it's almost 3 AM and I just finished the chapter. My eyes are dead tired. I wrote this completely differently than I'd originally planned. It sort of still follows the plot, but I took a big risk when writing it like this. I may hit a dead end with this version and may have to delete+re-do it afterwards. I don't know. It doesn't seem that 'realistic' anymore in this chap. GAHH I DON'T KNOW. I'll see whether I can continue with the story like this. Hopefully I can. But let me know, what you think, 'kay? Please? It would be appreciated.

Oh, also, just to make things easier for you, here're the colors of each rank's uniform:

Devils:

S-rank: Black + red/gray

A-rank: Black + blue

B-rank: Black + green

Angels:

C-rank: White + blue

D-rank: White + green

E-rank: White + yellow

Now enjoy seeing things through Sasori's eyes... if you can.

Chapter 7 - It Starts Here

Dull brown eyes watched the progression of the white clock ticking on the gray-ish yellow wall that had yet to be repainted for over 5 years. Two fingers were twiddling with a blue pen, tapping it against the desk in a steady rhythm that wasn't interrupted by Pein's faked cough or Tayuya's low growl. Only when Kakuzu twisted around on his chair and, giving a glare, slapped the pen out of the hand, did the tapping stop. But the two brown eyes never left the clock.

Nobody gave Sasori strange looks for it, though. Out of all the S-rank students, he was what they called a 'daydreamer'. He stayed generally silent, rarely opening his mouth even when someone addressed him. He often chose to ignore insults as well, which got the others to wonder what exactly it was that got him to react.

The answer was simple. Something interesting.

After the class ended, the group of four S-rank students made their way to the canteen, Konan and Itachi joining them in the hallway. Sasori momentarily glanced up as Konan, dressed in a tight black dress that revealed her back and high heel combat boots, wrapped one arm around Pein's neck, receiving a kiss on the neck and a hand around her waist in return. Sasori's eyes flickered to Itachi, who, too, had his hand around, a lot more tomboy-looking girl, though, Tayuya.

Sasori's mind was on other things, though, and no one could be sure whether he'd really looked at the two couples, or if he'd just been spacing out. As far as anyone else beside him was concerned, his mind was a maze no one else had been able to take a peek in yet. What he was thinking about was for him to know and for him only.

Had he been paying attention to his surroundings even a little bit, he would've noticed a group of people in black and blue – A-rank students – clustered around a tall blond, who looked a lot more different from what he'd been like two days before.

Nobody could really tell what the real difference was, though, since no one had known the first version, but they could guess.

Maybe it was the carefully done blonde hair, tied in a half ponytail, or the even more carefully done dark make-up that matched the S-rank uniform. It could've been the skinny jeans and sleeveless shirt, or the shining black biker boots and leather jacket draped over his arm.

His past friends, though, would've said that the clothing was nothing compared to the oddness that was his current laid-back attitude and his careless, yet formidable, laugh. In the group it was obvious that he was the one looked up to and that was something out of the ordinary.

But as said before, Sasori preferred keeping to himself and had little interest in what surrounded him. He was the last one of his group to get in line and remained completely oblivious to the seemingly depressed E-rank girl behind him that kept her distance, and the chuckling mixed-ranks group behind her, who were shooting mocking looks at the redhead. Had he noticed them, he would've found himself quite genuinely astonished. Did they find something funny about him?

Sasori paused at the salad section. There were five kinds of different salads on offer, but deciding on which one to take wasn't what kept the redhead there. After all, the variety was always the same and he only liked one of them.

But as it happened, his next stop – the drink section – was crowded, so his stay at the salad section was prolonged by a few minutes. This, however, made the next event possible. His eyes were off the ground, slightly glaring at the cluster blocking his way, and ears were open as were all his awakened senses, since his focus was on the reality for a change.

The irritation bubbling inside him was what caused him to take notice of his name slipping out a passer-by's mouth and watch them as they came to a stop a few meters from him. He heard laughter and snicker, which sounded so out of place with his name that it even got him a little interested. If a raised eyebrow could be categorized as a show of interested.

"I just recently heard!"

"I don't believe it. It's only a rumor. The one who started it is dead meat, though. Do you think that boy himself started it?"

"Who? That blond? Oh, beats me. I can't make sense of him at all. He seems tough, though, but why the fuck is he with lower ranks?"

Sasori wasn't slow enough to not catch on that the talk was about Deidara. Since when was that brat with anyone? Wasn't he a loner? Not that Sasori gave a damn either way. But there seemed to be something on those people's minds that connected him to the brat. A rumor, they said? He couldn't remember the last time there'd been a rumor around about him. Hardly interesting, though.

Sasori's attention shifted away again, leaving the two girls gossiping as he moved on to the drink section. Having filled his glass with cherry juice, he picked up his tray and made his way to the mess hall's farthest table where every other S-rank student was sat, with the exception of one blond. Sasori paid his absence no mind.

He took a seat next to Kakuzu, his train of thought already directing him back to his own bubble. That's why he never saw the hustle on the other side of the cafeteria where a small group of people had gathered. It was strange how none of them seemed to be interested in food, but more in encouraging the blond standing in the centre.

The blond just gave them an easy-going look, laughing light-heartedly at the comments and tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear.

Then there was noise. A loud 'drum roll' performed by an eccentric purple-haired devil with two spoons on a table managed to catch the majority's attention, including Sasori's who made a pause in poking his food and raised his head the slightest bit, his eyebrows raising at what he saw.

The brat – Deidara – was in front of the group, looking nothing like what he remembered. He didn't seem introverted in the least, quite the opposite, and his clothes were surely picked out just to give a good show. Sasori saw nothing that could've be described as 'tough', though. All he could see was a giggling brat trying to make an impression. And how lousy it was coming across. How uninteresting.

Sasori was about to lower his head and turn away, but halted when hearing the following sentence being voiced loudly enough for even the ones wearing headphones to catch it.

"I, DEIDARA IWAGA, TOPPED SASORI AKASUNA OF RANK S." Sasori froze at the table, his brain processing what exactly he'd just heard. But his pause didn't stop the blond and his backup crew from continuing. There was a fit of chuckles and giggles, before the next announcement: "LONG LIVE REVOLUTION!"

-x-

A sly and unnerving feeling was making its way inside Sasori by slithering in like a snake. At first, Sasori wasn't sure how to call it. It had been so long since he'd last experienced it and a human mind was, regrettably, forgetful. Memories were fleeting, they faded away with ease, leaving only a few unconnected dots behind that you had to re-connect, if you wanted to have access to the memory again.

But something was jogging in Sasori's memory, and once the word was brought up in his head, he knew he'd found the right one to describe the feeling he was experiencing at the moment. Embarrassment.

Everyone in the mess hall, without a single exception, was staring at him, even his fellow rank-mates. Many had already heard the rumor and that's what the talk had been about before. Did people really believe the brat? The brat topping him? Now wasn't that the joke of the year.

How could there have been morons who bought it? And what was the brat trying to accomplish? Affecting him? Ruining his reputation?

Let him try and fail, Sasori thought, closing his eyes for a moment to collect himself. He then bent over his plate again and took a bite, acting as though nothing had happened. If there was anything he was good at, it was ignoring everybody's existence. Why would everyone staring at him make any difference?

He even decided to disregard Pein's laughter and the comment: "You hear what people are blabbering, Sasori? Have you forgotten to inform me about you becoming soft?"

Sasori's more or less of a strategy – he did it instinctively, not planning it particularly – was to not react in any way, therefore giving the audience no other choice but to go back to minding their own business. After finishing his food, though, he couldn't stop himself from shooting Pein an 'are you serious?' look that shouted all the witty comments needed to shut the boy up.

Sasori got up and left the mess hall, hands in pockets and eyes on the floor. The rumor and the certain blond were the last things on his mind.

But that wasn't entirely true. While it was correct that he didn't spend time thinking about how the recent event had affected his reputation, he couldn't keep the blond off his mind, not entirely. Not with all the reminders getting in his way, at least.

Seeing the brat making out against the hallway wall with a B-rank student could've hardly be counted as a reminder, but the posters and flyers that had "SEME DEIDARA & UKE SASORI" written on them and seemed to be everywhere, weren't so easy to ignore. Had the brat started a campaign or what? It was like he was running for president. In Otogakure no Sato Academy. Ha ha. Another joke.

What did seme and uke even mean? Seme was like semen without an n, but it made no sense. Uke was like an abbreviation for some university or company, but it made no sense either. All of a sudden, Sasori felt behind the times. What the hell had happened to good old, and what's most important – plain, English?

A pile of fliers was barricading the door to the classroom and Sasori found himself frowning at the structure. There was something seriously wrong with the brat. None of his past one night stands had acted like this. Almost made him wish he hadn't done what he had…

…nah.

He pushed the pile aside and entered the classroom.

-x-

By the end of the day, the whole 'campaign of the rumor' was getting old for Sasori. He couldn't help leaning down closer to the desk and pinching the bridge of his nose when the English teacher got hit by a paper plane made of a flyer. Because guess who got detention? Sasori. Because his picture was on the flyer. Fuck logic.

He nearly skipped the last class to get away from it all. The only thing stopping him was a voice reminding him why he'd be doing it – because of something the brat had done. No wasn't that pathetic? In the end, he forced himself to survive every single minute of the hour-long lecture and ignore the prying looks of his classmates. Who would've known someone's eyes could be tiring when feeling them watching your every move?

When class finally let out, Sasori felt like fleeing from this place for good. He couldn't go to his room, because he shared it with Pein and Itachi and there would be people there. Hence he almost ran down the stairs to the lowest floor, which he knew would be deserted at that time.

Turning the corner, he collided with a figure in such a swift movement that both of them were almost knocked off their feet. Sasori had to support himself against the wall to keep him from falling over and closed his eyes momentarily. He felt dizzy and worn out. The day had been stressful, to say the least.

Remembering that there was someone else there, he scraped his hand across his face and said in a lowered voice: "I'm sorry, I wasn't watch-" before he realized he was actually apologizing and opened his eyes. What he saw made his eyes widen. A light-hearted giggle filled the space.

To be continued...