Chapter 6

…

I couldn't stop thinking about what happened on Monday. Sasuke had already read the article I wrote. He walked me home that day, but he had refused to talk to me. I wondered if he knew.

My mind was lost in thought as I took my homework out of my bag and stretched my legs on my bed.

Knock!

Neji walked into my room uninvited. "Hinata, your dumb friend is waiting for you outside."

Couldn't he at least let Kiba in? I asked myself, but of course, I knew it was impossible for Neji to be civil.

"Okay."

I got up and went downstairs, but when I opened the door, it was not Kiba who was there to greet me, but Komic geek.

"Hiiiii!" she said cheerfully. I could tell this was a very good day for her.

"H-hey," I said nervously, feeling very underdressed. I was wearing my nightgown. As I let her in, I asked, "W-what are you doing here?"

"I came to help you," she replied.

I led her to my room so we could have some privacy. Taking a seat on the chair by my computer table, asked, "W-with what?"

"With your writing! Duh!" she grabbed a collectable I had picked up from the beach and began to examine it. It was a rare stone I had found after my dog died, so it kind of reminded me of him.

"Oh," I said, still deep in thought.

"First of all, we need to get more information on Sasuke," she said, like she was the one doing all the dirty laundering.

"H-how?" I was not looking to going on a date with him again just to get some new secret out of him. I already felt horrible the first time.

"Our sources say he's going to be at Konoha Club this evening," she informed me giddily.

"K-Konoha Club? B-but aren't we too young to enter?" I pressed my index fingers together.

"I know," she said with a smile.

I don't like that smile.

.

.

We were at the front entrance of the Konoha Club and standing right before us was a bulky man dressed in a suit who I assumed to be the bouncer.

Before we got to the club, Komic had gotten fake ID cards for both of us and a change of clothes.

She no longer looked like a nerd. Gone were her glasses and down-dressed look. She wore a strapless tank-top and shorts.

I was now wearing a short dress that barely covered my legs, which was extremely uncomfortable. My hair was packed up and curled. The hair dresser said it made my face come out more.

"Your ID," the bouncer spoke in a very deep voice.

I automatically stretched my hands to the bouncer, holding my ID card out like Komic and I had practiced several times. I was extremely nervous.

"Go in," he removed the rope that separated us from the club.

.

.

The moment I entered the club I was hit with the smell of alcohol and sweat.

"There he is!" Komic said, clapping her hands together and jumping up and down like a five-year-old child who had just gotten candy.

I looked at where Komic was pointing, and I saw Sasuke sitting on a long stool in front of the bar connected to the night club. His face was downcast, so I couldn't see him clearly.

"We should go get a drink," Komic dragged me by the hand and made her way to the bar. I could tell she had been here many times before.

A drunk man came up and started hitting on Komic. She dealt with him rather well, though. It was becoming more and more apparent how used she was to this sort of thing.

"No, get out," Komic did not even spare him a look.

"What about you?" he referred to me.

"N-no," I mumbled.

He grunted and stumbled away.

"Here," Komic handed me a drink.

"N-no, I don't drink."

"Okay, suit yourself," she shrugged.

Komic emptied the whole glass in her mouth. After a pregnant pause I decided to break the silence while we watched Sasuke.

"What's y-your real name, K-Komic?"

She looked surprised that I asked her that question. Finally, she said, "Megumi. You know, you're the first person to ever ask me that." She absently inspected her drink.

"W-what about your friends?" I pressed on.

"Friends?" she said it like it was a foreign word. "You think someone as freaky as me has any friends?"

"Well, I think freaky is good," I told her.

She put her drink on the table, not even responding to my question. "I have to pee," she said abruptly, and rushed to the bathroom.

"O-okay," I sighed.

"Hey, baby," the drunk guy from earlier returned, whispering in my ear. "Forget your friend, what about you and I-"

"I'm not going home with you," I interrupted.

He grabbed my hand roughly, saying through clenched teeth, "I'm not asking, darling."

"N-no," I was panicked.

"Let go of her," a not very drunk Sasuke was suddenly beside us.

"Or what?" the drunkard challenged.

"This."

Without giving the drunken fool a chance to defend himself, Sasuke threw the guy across the bar.

Everyone crowded around, waiting for a fight to start, but they were disappointed when the drunken guy got up, fear the only emotion visible in his eyes, and he ran out the club.

"Sit," Sasuke said shortly, and I obeyed.

I didn't recognize this side of Sasuke. Not that Sasuke was always a happy-go-lucky person or something, but I never pictured him as the street-fighter type.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned me.

"I w-was…my friend forced me to come," I said immediately, and for a second, Sasuke looked like he didn't believe me.

"And where is that friend now?" he interrogated. He looked like he was going to scold me.

Wait, aren't I the one supposed to be asking questions?

"Uh…," I couldn't tell him I was here with Megumi. I had to think of something, fast. "What about you?" I countered. "Why are you here?"

He looked down at the glass Komic had left for me and began inspecting it. For a moment, I didn't think he heard had me. Or if he did, I didn't think he was going to answer my question.

"It's the anniversary," he finally said, and it was obvious he was trying to force a nonchalant tone.

For a moment I waited for him to continue his sentence, but he looked like he was drowning in sadness. I started to rethink asking him the question.

That was when he finished his sentence, "It's the anniversary of my parents' death."

He got up and walked away before I could ask him anymore questions.

.

.

"Where is he?" Komic demanded, brushing through people as she looked for Sasuke.

After coming out of the toilet, Komic had noticed our source of information, Sasuke, was gone.

"It's like he disappeared off the face of the earth!" she exclaimed in frustration.

After what Sasuke had said to me just minutes before, I decided to tell him I was the one who owned the gossip section in the school news magazine.

Yes. I had to.

.

.