Bab 42: Chapter 42
-Hinata's POV-
Kankuro drove us to the brunette woman's apartment first. I never managed to get her name, but did leave my contact information on a note at her bedside table. She was unconscious the moment she touched her bed. Despite this, I feel somehow responsible for her since I'm the one who found her in such a sorry state. Hopefully she'll reach out tomorrow and let me know that she's alright.
After that, we headed back to our house. Kankuro decided to just crash on our sofa for the night so he could see his brother in the morning, but I know his real intentions were to make sure Sakura and I were alright. I can't speak to what happened with her because she won't talk to me, but I was barely able to stay upright when he found me.
My pink-haired friend thanked the Subaku man once more before wishing us both a good night and disappearing into her bedroom. I even heard her lock the door behind her, which she never does. Something awful happened, that much I know for sure now.
She can't even look me in the eye and Kankuro didn't deny it when I asked him, but he wouldn't give any details because she asked him to keep quiet. I understand and respect that, but what he doesn't realize is that this isn't the first day of her acting out of character. Her mental health is obviously at risk of deteriorating if something doesn't change soon. Sakura's the type to tough out the hard stuff so she doesn't appear weak or imperfect to others: our beautiful, control-freak group leader.
"Shouldn't you worry about yourself, Hinata? You weren't exactly doing great earlier, either."
I froze in the process of laying some spare blankets and pillows on the sofa next to where he was sitting and gave him a pleading look to keep it down so no one would overhear, "I'm the last thing on my mind right now. That poor girl and Sakura are going through more."
His brow rose, "What happened anyway?"
I shook my head, tears threatening to rise as the cloudy feeling from earlier began to seep back in, "I-I don't want to talk about it. I'm sorry."
He sighed, stretching out his arms before falling lazily to the side, making me pull my arms out of the way of the pillows, "You two are a handful, that's for sure. My baby bro has his work cut out for him."
With a red face, I politely said good night before excusing myself to go upstairs. With each step, my strong facade faded more and more. Terror iced my body despite my blood feeling so hot it could be boiling in my veins.
Hidan's lips against mine so roughly and the feeling of him pressing against me…Oh God…
By the time I got to the top of the stairs, I was beginning to get dizzy and hurried into my room just in case I fainted. After showering and getting dressed, I still couldn't get myself to calm down and panicked.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I knocked on the door in the bathroom that leads into Sasuke's room. He didn't answer. My fingers shook as I grabbed the doorknob and I swallowed my pride before opening it. The Uchiha man was sleeping, as I expected, but just the sight of him made my unease waver so I know I made the right choice coming over.
Feeling quite humiliated and ashamed of my need for comfort, I climbed into bed beside him as carefully as possible to try and not wake him. As I settled in and pulled the blankets up over me, I thought I was successful, but then an arm snaked around my waist and I was pulled back against him like last time.
His voice was low and raspy with sleep, making my stomach flutter, "You good?" He could undoubtedly feel the slight trembling my body still couldn't stop.
Tears welled up in my eyes and I wrapped my fingers around his hand and snuggled back, closer to him, without responding. If I try to talk right now, it'll only make him worry that much more. Hopefully he'll just think I drank at that party and came in here because I'm tipsy.
Whatever was going through his mind, he didn't ask any other questions and I allowed his presence to soothe my anxiety to the point that I was eventually able to fall asleep.
-Sakura's POV-
I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes as water ran from the showerhead down to my head and body. The moment I closed my bedroom behind me, I couldn't hold my tears back anymore and it's beginning to make me angry, which obviously doesn't help with my goal.
Sasori earlier…If Kankuro hadn't shown up when he did, there's not a doubt in my mind that he would have hurt me again. He'd already gotten my clothes out of the way.
I moved my hands away for a moment and looked down to see the dark, hand shaped bruises circling both of my upper arms where he'd squeezed so hard that it hurt while yelling at me. When I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror earlier, I was relieved to find that him choking me didn't leave any lasting marks. It's been hard enough trying to hide everything else.
There may not be a bruise to commemorate what happened, but my skin burns where his fingers had squeezed so tightly that I couldn't breathe. Just like that spot on my back, it burnt and itched and threw me into a panic. Ever since I got into the shower, both areas have been tingling like crazy.
A sob got choked in my throat when my eyes danced down to see the yellowing bruises on my wrists, waist, and hips.
When did I get so weak? I've never seen myself as someone who could be scared into obedience and silence before. It makes me feel a bit guilty for not taking these types of things as seriously as I should've. Millions of people have to deal with this terror on a daily basis and I'd been walking around like I was somehow stronger than them.
I was an idiot. Even when I was fearing that Garrett would try to hurt me, I never expected it'd be this bad if it did happen.
This pain…
A knock came at the bathroom door and I sucked in a breath and froze, thinking that maybe I imagined the sound amidst the noise of the running shower, but then it came again. My heart began pumping even faster and I pushed my hair back out of my face, "Yes?"
I heard Gaara's soft voice muffled behind the closed door to his bedroom, "Can I come in?" He's never done that before, not once.
"Okay."
Please just have to pee or something. I listened with wide eyes to his door open and it was awkwardly silent for a moment before he spoke in a voice that told me he was just as nervous to be in here with me as I was with him, "Are you alright?"
I answered quickly, realizing too late that it may have been too fast of a response, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"
I pressed my forehead against the wet wall of the shower and squeezed my eyes closed when he said exactly what I hoped not to hear, "I thought you were crying."
A sigh of defeat got caught in my throat. Amidst trying not to lose it like I had the first night back from the trip, I somehow forgot about his insomnia and assumed he was asleep because of how late it is. If he was asleep, I undoubtedly woke him up. He usually is a light sleeper anyway.
"Sakura?"
My eyes shot open when I realized I hadn't answered him, "Oh, uh, no. I-I'm not crying. I'm alright, Gaara."
There was an agonizing pause before he replied, "You know you can talk to me, right? It's okay." Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized, just like Hinata, Gaara noticed something off with me over the past week.
I'm so fucking ashamed. I don't want him to know, not him. If anyone finds out, it can't be Gaara. For some reason, the idea of him being made aware of what happened was terrifying. His good opinion of me is like the last thing I can lose right now or else things might really get bad.
"Thank you, Gaara, but I said I'm fine, okay? You don't need to worry."
He responded quickly as though he knew what I was going to say before I did, "Sakura, come get me if you need to, okay? Promise me."
A wild heat erupted about my face at his out of character request. If there's ever been a time that I desperately need someone to just be with me without expectations, it's now, but I can't ask him to comfort me without explaining why I need it.
"Okay."
After another silent moment, I heard him leave and then the tears flowed freely down my face once more. This time around, I made sure to keep quiet so he doesn't hear.
I dried off and pulled on my pajamas once I finished showering. A stray tear or two slid down my cheeks as I finished the last step of my skincare routine. My frustration with my lack of self-control wore thinner by the second and they gradually fell quicker and quicker until I couldn't stay up anymore and crouched down with my face buried in my towel to muffle my panicked breathing and sobs.
I just can't wrap my head around how someone could do this to a person, especially Sasori. The fact that I didn't see it coming makes me feel like the biggest idiot on the planet. His acting was so flawless that I never expected something even close to this. The drummer's character changed so drastically both that night in Yuki No Kuni and tonight at that party.
My calves and lungs burnt as my shoulders shook.
Who's ever going to love me now that I've been traumatized by an act that should be positive? It'll be hard for me to have sex again, if I ever do at all. No one's going to want to deal with all that baggage, not even me.
A soft sensation came in the middle of my back and I jumped, raising my head from the towel to see Gaara crouched beside me with a desperate look of concern. Tears clouded my vision and he guided me toward him as I burst into sobs, wrapping his arms around me as I pressed into his chest and fell apart.
It's too late now. He already saw it.
The redhead carefully moved to sit as I crumpled in his arms, rubbing slow circles into my back. It's like every bit of angst from the last week that I've held back bubbled to the surface because he caught me with my guard down and now I can't stop. I don't know how long we sat there, but I eventually passed out.
-Gaara's POV-
Sakura's trembling slowly faded until it became clear she'd fallen asleep and I swallowed hard to keep my emotions under control.
I knew from the first day after Christmas break that something was going on, but I never thought it'd be something so bad that it'd reduce her to this state. I've only ever seen her cry once where it wasn't because she was angry or happy and that was the day Sasuke and I found out about Garrett.
My fingers slid gently into her hair as I greedily held her more firmly against my chest.
She's not someone who relies on others like she just did with me. The fact that she let me see her so vulnerable is scary enough. Not knowing what's causing all this is worse.
I carefully maneuvered her in my arms and picked her up before taking her to her room and laying her in bed, reminding me of that night we all went to Masquerade. After covering her up, I studied her face for a moment. Her tan skin was pale and bags were beginning to form under her red eyes from not sleeping properly.
She's going to be so upset in the morning when she wakes up and realizes I saw her cry. I wish she'd just let someone be there for her, even if it's not me, because she obviously needs a shoulder to lean on.
With a sigh, I decided to just leave it be for now. If I pressure her, it'll have the opposite effect and she'll become even more distant. As I was about to go back to my own room, she turned onto her back and reached up to scratch at her neck in her sleep. My blood ran cold and I came closer with wide eyes.
Around her neck…is that…
Careful not to wake her, I brushed her hair out of the way and grit my teeth together when my suspicion was confirmed and I saw a variety of marks, the most prominent being a thin line circling her entire neck. Then I recalled that broken necklace I found and I had to crouch down and press a fist to my mouth to keep from cursing out loud. There was blood on it. Since it was in our bathroom, she had to have done that to herself, but why?
I was distracted from that thought when my eyes danced to her wrist and the ice in my blood turned to fire. Her sleeve had ridden up her arm when she moved and a very clear, fading, bruise covered her entire wrist, like someone had… No, I can't finish that thought because then, at least in my mind, there'll be no convincing me that it didn't happen no matter what explanation she has.
It's taking everything in me not to tear her clothes off just to verify if there are even more bruises, but I obviously can't do that. My vision darkened as my anger heightened and I swiftly rose and forced myself to go to my room so as to not wake her.
When I find out who did that to her, I'll…I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself.
-Hinata's POV-
Before I could even open my eyes in the morning, a surprised blush was warming my face. I didn't dare move a muscle in fear Sasuke would notice my panic or it'd wake him up and lead to the same fate. Goosebumps prickled up on the skin of my midsection despite being under the warm covers.
My shirt…somehow it came up quite a bit while I slept and long fingers were pressed against my bare hip and stomach.
Either he unconsciously moved his hands there while sleeping or he was throwing my anxiety into the deep end on purpose, which isn't all that far fetched of a notion. Sasuke's made it clear more than a few times now that he has a deep admiration for the female body, a polite way of saying he's a pervert. While it would surprise me to learn if he moved my shirt himself, it wouldn't to hear that he helped himself if it was already like that.
Suddenly, the unbelievably attractive man behind me took in a deep breath, the sound of it telling me that he was, indeed, still asleep. When I felt it move my hair and tickle my skin, I realized just how closely he'd moved overnight. His lips couldn't be more than an inch or two away from the back of my shoulder or neck.
The heat in my cheeks began to spread to my entire body and I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to come up with a plan of escape. I can't move much or he'll definitely wake up and I can't just wake him because then he'll realize he all copped a feel and would never stop teasing me about it. The mood between us has been quite serious over the past couple weeks, especially since Christmas, but he'd never be able to help himself with content this humiliating, to me at least.
Before I could figure out what course of action to take, I sensed him wake anyway because his fingers flexed against my skin as he stretched, a soft groan rumbling his chest sleepily. Then he froze, likely realizing the position we're in. It was silent for only a moment before he snickered and then his arms circled around my middle and pulled me flush against him. The hot skin of his abdomen pressed against my bare lower back, stealing every thought from my mind.
"And here I thought you were shy." Sasuke's voice was so deep and raspy, it sent a shiver down my spine, which he noticed and snickered amusingly at once more.
I struggled against his firm hold since he already figured out that I'm awake, "S-Sasuke, let go!" It was futile and I knew it.
"You should've thought about this before coming in here in the middle of the night like you did."
My eyes shot open at the mention of last night and then the memory of all that happened came back to me, killing the embarrassing but light air of the room. My struggling ceased and I nervously rested my hands against the strong arms around my stomach, allowing his warm touch to help keep me calm.
Sasuke noticed the change and remained silent for a long time. I wasn't about to turn and check, but I got the sense that he was staring at the back of my head with either a glare or a big frown.
Neither of us had to say anything for him to understand that I'm not about to talk about what scared me enough to come to him for help like that. Granted, the help I wanted didn't ask him to do anything but let me be near, but that in itself is incredibly out of character for me. Maybe coming to his room is becoming a habit and I don't know if that's a good thing or not.
My fingers tightened around his arm slightly when I recalled the force and roughness Hidan kissed me with as he pressed a very inappropriate piece of his body against me. Then I was tearing out of his grasp and rushing to the bathroom with tears in my eyes. With shaky hands, I grabbed my toothbrush and put twice the amount of toothpaste on it before beginning to feverishly clean my teeth.
My entire mouth, lips, teeth, tongue, and all, felt so dirty. To think that someone who'd commit an act like rape got the chance to kiss me…it makes me sick. It also equally terrifies and angers me. The rage that was beginning to pool in the deepest pit of my stomach stunned me, but not enough that it could make me pause in my frantic brushing. It usually takes quite a bit to get me really angry. Sure, I get annoyed pretty often with Sasuke and even sometimes Sakura or Ino, but I rarely get mad.
"You know, there's such a thing as too much." I turned my head to Sasuke leaning against his bedroom's door frame with his arms crossed over his bare chest and a suspicious frown on his lips.
I swiftly turned to face the sink again, waving a dismissive hand as I spoke over my toothbrush, "G-Go away."
The room got quiet before he replied in an angrier voice than I expected, making me turn to look at him with wide eyes, "I've about had it with you brushing me off these past few days, Hyuuga."
Suddenly much more nervous, I rinsed my toothbrush and gargled some water before cleaning up my mess at the counter and fully facing him, "It's not like I-I want to. You don't understand, Sasuke."
His arms dropped to his sides as he glared down at me, "Then explain."
I shook my head, "I can't…"
A very slight red touched his face as he got more angry, but he surprised me by not raising his voice, "What do you mean you can't? Obviously something's going on with you and Sakura. Not only do you two disappear, but then you wake me up fucking terrified in the middle of the night. Now, you're acting weird yet again. What the hell, Hinata?"
If the situation wasn't what it was, I'd be so touched and proud that he was being so incredibly sincere and open with his thoughts and emotions, but I can't focus on it right now. All I can focus on is the fact that if he finds out about what I saw Hidan doing last night, what he did to me, he's likely to explode.
As I stared into his fiery glare, though, I realized I have to give him something. If I don't let him in on at least a little bit, he's going to really get mad at me and I can't stand the idea of someone like Hidan causing harm to both my mental health and my friendship with Sasuke. He doesn't get to affect me in two ways.
So, I sighed and averted my gaze down to his chest and admitted with a red face, "L-Last night…someone tried t-to, um, t-t-they…" My brow furrowed and I grit my teeth as I trailed off.
How am I supposed to tell Tenten about all this if I can't even tell Sasuke that someone tried to force themselves on me without mentioning names. It'll be even harder when it comes to telling our mentor because I won't be censoring anything or making it sound like it was much less than it actually was.
"Who was it?" I was pulled from my thoughts by Sasuke, whose voice was absolutely menacing. When I met his eye again, he was barely holding back an obvious angry outburst.
I shook my head, tears welling up again, as I lied right to his face, "I-I-I don't know."
"Where were you?"
"Some party across town, l-like an hour away."
"Don't go to things like that without one of us, you idiot!" By "us" he obviously meant him or Gaara.
I frowned, "W-We didn't want to bother you guys…"
Large hands grabbed my shoulders and I was forced to meet his eye, "You think I'd rather be having this conversation with you than go to some random fucking party so nothing bad happens? You really are a dumbass."
My tears overflowed and I dipped my head so I could wipe at them. Sasuke paused before lowering his voice and asking in an incredibly hesitant way, "What did he do?"
I rubbed my eyes and mumbled, "He k-kissed me a-a-and, um, well…" I pulled my long sleeves back a bit to see that my inkling was correct and both of my wrists had bruises around them from how tightly Hidan had held them when I tried to escape him last night.
Just when I thought Sasuke couldn't get any angrier, the murderous aura surrounding him suddenly increased tenfold as he grabbed my hands in his and brought them slightly closer to his face. By his intimidating presence, I thought he was going to start yelling, but instead he met my eye with the rage sinking slowly away to be replaced by concern, "How did you…?"
I held his gaze, feeling more reassured now that he'd gotten control of himself, "S-Someone was coming and he left so he wouldn't g-get caught."
That's it. That's all I can tell him right now. It seemed to be enough to ease his offended emotions because he released both of my hands and sighed, "I mean it, Hinata. Don't do something like that again and don't let Sakura, either."
After that, we parted ways for the day. It became awkward between us like it had before last night. Now that I've slept in his room not once, but twice, my inability to define what was going on was just getting more out of hand. The fact that Sasuke seems completely unaffected just puts me off, too. When I woke up, I panicked, but when he did he was so calm that he was teasing me. We're so different, he and I.
Either way, I had to focus on a different, more serious, topic. Kankuro and Gaara ate breakfast and caught up for a bit before the elder brother wished us farewell. Prior to leaving, he promised me in private not to tell anyone about how he'd found me, much to my relief.
I disappeared the moment I was able to without someone seeing me and went directly to the agency to talk to Tenten. Our mentor announced recently that she's on the search for a house, but has yet to move out of the dorms.
She let me into her room with no makeup, hair up in a messy bun, and still in her pajamas despite it being after noon. That charity event must've taken a lot out of her and she's still trying to recuperate. I made some coffee for both of us as she played on her phone, strewn carelessly across her sofa with the television playing something softly in the background, but neither of us were watching it.
Once it was ready, I asked her to come sit at the small dining table with me and she did so with a confused look on her pretty face, "Why're you being so weird and formal?"
I met her warm brown eyes for a moment before looking down into my coffee mug and swallowing hard so I could begin trying to explain, "I-I saw another member of the agency doing s-something illegal and I want to talk to you before I d-do anything else."
The woman didn't respond so I looked up to see that, for once, she was waiting patiently for me to continue. I took a calming breath, concerned about the chain of events my actions are about to set into motion, "I saw…I-I s-s-saw H-Hidan, um, h-he…" My face burnt with mortification and I covered my face with a sigh as tears began to well up.
"It's alright Hinata. Take your time."
I slowly dropped my hands and gave her a warning look before stuttering over my words as I finally spilled to someone what I witnessed at the party last night.
Her face began to contort into an expression of utter disbelief as my confession sank in and when I was finally finished, she made a nondescript sound of disgust, "That's so fucked up!" I nodded, wiping at my eyes because I couldn't keep myself from crying.
Tenten swiftly became angry, but lay a hand atop mine, "I'm so proud of you for coming to me with this. I know it wasn't easy. We're going to do everything we can to expose this asshole!" I nodded, happy that she was just as upset about it as me.
She pointed at my phone, which was sitting facedown on the table nearby, "Did you get her number?"
"She was too out of it, b-but I left her my info so hopefully she reaches out."
My mentor's brow furrowed and she groaned, "This is so gross, Hinata. What a fucking monster. That poor girl…"
Please, God, let that woman text or call me. Not only does she deserve justice for how Hidan hurt her, but who knows if he's done this to others in the past or who he'll hurt in the future.
-Sakura's POV-
For the entirety of the next day, I hid in my room. Last night, I fucked up and I fucked up bad. Gaara caught me. He…He watched me have a mental breakdown and I didn't even stay awake long enough to see his reaction.
There's no way he's going to leave it now that I lost it like that. I owe it to him to explain since he personally helped me get all that negative energy out and truth be told I feel a million times better after such a long and hard cry. Now I'm faced with deciding if I want to come clean to both Gaara and everyone else about what actually happened during Christmas break.
All this time, I've been one hundred percent set on never telling another living soul, but I….I just can't do it. This disgusting secret's tearing me apart from the inside out.
Everyone around me knows something's wrong and I can tell they're worried even if they don't say anything about it. Not only this, but Kankuro literally interrupted Sasori trying to go after me a second time. The way he treated me said he at least suspects last night wasn't the first time, too.
I convinced him not to tell Gaara, but it'd be stupid of me not to expect him to tell someone if I don't do anything. What's worse is that I can't even blame him. If and when he does say something, it'll be solely because he's worried about me and wants me to be safe. We're not even close. He's just my close friend's older brother, but being unbearably kind and caring regardless of how it'll affect themselves seems to run in the Subaku family. Gaara did the same thing when he told my mother about Garrett.
Reason number three that I've begun to consider coming clean is because I'm being selfish by keeping it to myself. What if Sasori's out there hurting another girl right now? I can possibly prevent more tragic cases like mine by turning him in.
Luckily, no one bothered me all day, not even Gaara. He's such a great guy. So much so that I feel awful for relying so heavily on him. Nothing I do will be enough to thank him for what he did for me last night, but I have to at least try.
The next morning, the package containing the documentation of my hospital visit arrived and I swiftly hid it on the inside of my pillowcase without even opening the thick envelope. If I do, if I look at those photos, I'll have another breakdown and undo all the comfort I was given by Gaara after the party. Until I need them, those photos and reports won't be seeing the light of day.
A bit later, all of us left the house for an interview. Hinata sat quietly in my passenger seat while Gaara and Sasuke followed us in the Uchiha man's car. My eyes danced up to the rearview mirror for the millionth time, my stomach churning anxiously when they landed on Gaara. He was looking down at his phone so he didn't notice, thankfully.
"H-Hey, be careful! Are you alright?"
I focused back on the road, steadying the car that'd begun to slowly drift toward the median. Then I glanced at Hinata, who looked like she was scared for her life, "Yeah, sorry. I guess I'm just tired today."
Her anxiety melted a bit, "I can drive on the way home if you want."
I shook my head, fingers tightening on the steering wheel, "It's fine. I'll just get some coffee or something while we're there." With one last glance in the rearview mirror, I gave up sneaking peeks at the male counterparts of Prestige and focused completely on driving.
This interview is very important, maybe even more than any we've done since after our debut. We're going to an interview with none other than Haku. He's the host of the most popular celebrity news internet channel that matches his namesake. The man's only a few years older than us, the same age as Sasuke, I think, and has been in the spotlight since around fifteen or sixteen.
We'd be idiots not to be nervous about this interview because fans are especially critical of Haku's interviews. They can make or break your career. This is because the host doesn't ask the usual, generic, questions that we're used to. No, he gets every single one of them from a fan board and doesn't shy away from the inappropriate or personal topics like others do.
There are a lot of celebrities that refuse to go on his show because of this, but it only hurts them in the long run because fans assume they have something to hide.
Tenten and Kakashi gave us a heavy warning the day we found out about this interview not to be careless. If even those two are anxious, I've got my work cut out for me as Prestige's leader.
-Hinata's POV-
Thankfully, Haku's recording studio is in a low-key part of town and not publicly known so we didn't have to fight a crowd of paparazzi and fans in order to join the boys and enter the lobby of the building.
My eyes shot down to the floor the moment the elevator door closed and began taking us up to one of the top floors. I'm a nervous wreck as it is, especially with everything that's happened in the past week, but the fact that we're about to meet Haku doesn't help at all. He's notoriously outgoing and brutal with his questions. There have even been times in the past where the man teased his guests for getting flustered by unexpected inquiries.
What if I choke up? What if he asks something truly humiliating and the worst case scenario happens and I actually faint? My career will be ruined. I'll be finished.
My fingers trembled nervously as the door to the elevator opened and we stepped into a hallway so I clenched my hands into fists. I can do this. If I can perform on stage in front of others, I can do an interview in front of one person.
A guard greeted us before checking us for weapons or similar dangerous items and when we were in the clear he let us enter Haku's studio. The beautiful man stole the breath from my lungs when I first lay eyes on him. On camera, his features come off as sharp and handsome, but in person he has a softer look and is so feminine and beautiful that I'm surprised he hasn't taken up modeling.
A gentle smile tugged at his lips as he shook each of our hands, "Welcome, Prestige! I'm so excited to finally meet you guys!"
Rather than having big, intimidating cameras around the room like when we film music videos, he only has a few smaller ones manned by actual people, while the rest were skillfully disguised as everyday items around his show's set. Half of the room acted as the set in question with comfy chairs, a big sofa, and even a few giant bean bags. The other half was full of lighting equipment and screens where a handful of crew members were focusing on their jobs rather than paying attention to us.
An aide took our coats and purses to hang near the door before Haku ushered us over to the decorated area of the room, "Please, have a seat wherever you're comfortable."
I hesitated before choosing to sit at the far end of the large sofa. I'd rather choose somewhere further from where he'll undoubtedly be, but I made the dumb choice of wearing a skirt so it'd be unladylike to use one of the shorter chairs. The boys sat on the mentioned chairs and Sakura flopped down on the bean bag chair right next to the sofa, giving me a reassuring smile when our eyes met.
I politely crossed my ankles and accepted a cup of coffee from another one of Haku's aides, thanking them with a nervous smile. The host himself came to sit casually on the opposite end of the couch, angling his body slightly toward the four of us and letting his tablet rest on the cushion between us. When he looked at each of us, I gave him as solid of a grin as I could manage, keeping my hands clasped together in my lap so no one would be able to see how nervous I really am.
Haku's so pretty, even more so than Deidara. His long brown hair was straight and healthy and his skin was clear and pale.
Truthfully, I enjoy watching his show because he seems genuine with his guests instead of putting on an act like most do. That's a trait I hope to develop. Instead of being so shy it's annoying, I hope to turn my onstage confidence into a full-time characteristic. So, I admire the host quite a bit and feel just a tad starstruck in his presence.
His pale lips tugged into a teasing grin, "This isn't live, so please relax. I won't give you the villain edit unless you piss me off."
My smile stiffened as I pretended to laugh off his attempt at easing the tension, but I heard Sasuke sigh loudly in relief, "Thank god…" Haku laughed at him with warm brown eyes sparkling.
Without further ado, he picked his tablet up from between us and crossed one leg over the other as he clicked the screen, "I'm sure you guys know how this works. I'll ask questions, then you answer them. Please be as honest as possible. I prefer it when my guests act like themselves on my show, so don't put on any airs or I'll call you out on it. Let's have some fun!"
Ah, there's his personality. I was wondering when he was going to begin making me more anxious and it finally happened.
The man scrolled for a moment before visibly perking up, "Oh, here's one! What's your hidden talent? Let's start with Hinata since you're closest."
My face warmed slightly and I glanced down at my lap before meeting his eye again, remembering to at least appear confident since we're being recorded, "I'm a good swimmer, I guess." The first thing I could think of just slipped out. I'm just proud not to have stuttered.
"Like, you can swim quickly or can hold your breath for a long time?"
I nodded, "I can swim quickly, yes."
He nodded slowly, "Alright…I'll accept it! Next up is Sakura."
She grinned widely and answered as though she'd been thinking about it, "I'm good at gymnastics."
"Well, you can't say that and not show us something."
Our leader rose without arguing with a bashful grin, "I don't really know what I should do…" She said that, but immediately did a backbend before flipping over and landing on her feet again and then bowing dramatically. We all clapped lightly at her display of flexibility and she came to sit beside me, pulling my hand into hers with another reassuring smile.
Haku's grin widened and he gestured for Sasuke to take his turn to answer. The man shrugged, "I'm an open book."
The host booed him, "Oh, come on. There's gotta be something your fans don't know about."
I attempted to save our bandmate, recalling the day he and I made breakfast to cheer up Gaara and Sakura when they were fighting, "He's good at cooking!"
Eyes turned onto me before Sakura piped up, "Oh, yeah, his pancakes are amazing!"
Haku wiggled his eyebrows at the Uchiha, "We love a man who can cook."
Sasuke shot him a wink and then it was Gaara's turn. He's been even quieter than usual, making me wonder if maybe his insomnia's getting bad again.
His voice was cute and soft like always, though. His tone was as straightforward as can be as he answered, which came off as a bit comical when you compare the two, "I know how to braid." Even I was surprised by his admission. How have none of us discovered that fact yet?
Haku made a small, excited sound before getting to his feet with the tablet in hand, "Ooh, braid my hair!"
Gaara's face took on the slightest bit of a pink tint as he moved to sit in the beanbag Sakura had been in so Haku could sit in front of him comfortably. The host continued as our bandmate's fingers began separating his long hair into sections, "We'll keep the ball rolling while you work. Let's see…Ah, the question everyone's been asking: have each of you lost your virginity?"
The blush that came to my face in a heartbeat was so hot that I almost felt the need to reach up and cover it with my hands, but refrained. I had a feeling we'd be asked this question and thought I'd mentally prepared myself for it, but, oh how wrong I was. Haku's just so bold.
Sakura laughed awkwardly, "That's a bit inappropriate, Haku…" I looked over to see her face was nearly as red as mine and squeezed her hand in an attempt to give her strength.
The host waved a dismissive hand and rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on. You guys may be some of the biggest stars out there right now, but you're still human beings. Everyone has sex at some point and your fans are curious." When he realized the pink-haired girl wasn't budging, he sighed in defeat, "Okay, fine. I can't force you to answer, but just know your fans will be sad!"
I took a sip of coffee to hide the fact that I was glancing at Sakura again. What will she do? She literally just lost her virginity and, to my understanding, it didn't go well. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure she hasn't told the boys yet.
As expected, she shook her head and bowed toward the most prominent camera, "Yeah, I'm sorry guys. That's just a little too personal for my taste." Both Sasuke and Gaara just barely managed to hide the fact that her response threw them off, but quickly got it together.
"And Hinata?" I jumped slightly, meeting Haku's eye before realizing it was my turn to answer.
My eyes darted down to the cup in my hands and I shook my head with a bright red face, "I-I-I, um, I-"
"I think that's answer enough. Hinata Hyuuga is still a virgin, folks." I brought a hand up to my forehead with a humiliated expression as a few small laughs came from the others at his statement.
Gaara spoke softly, then, moving things along as he continued to work on braiding Haku's hair. It was obvious he was feeling very bashful, "I'm waiting for the right person."
The host seemed to fight the urge to turn and look at the redhead, "Can you get any cuter, Gaara? …When do you turn eighteen again?"
It was very obvious he was just kidding, but the Subaku boy's face quickly matched his own hair, making Sasuke laugh loudly before answering the question himself. "I'm not a virgin, but come on. I'm twenty-one years old. It shouldn't come as a surprise at this point so there's no point making a big deal about it."
The heavy, awkward air from before swept over me as I compared our responses. They're as different as night and day.
Sure, we've cuddled and slept in the same bed, but that's child's play compared to everything else Sasuke's undoubtedly done. A disheartening ice chilled my heart, but I had to force an unaffected facade up. Haku and his staff will be scouring this footage carefully. The last thing I want is for them to catch me getting upset about Sasuke not being a virgin. Luckily, the rest of the interview was fairly uneventful considering the fact that the questions didn't really tame all that much after that.
After the interview, we briefly stopped at home to take off our makeup and change into appropriate clothing before heading to the agency for dance practice with Sai. A lethargic feeling entered my body earlier, during the interview, and refused to leave.
After an hour or so, we were given a short break to get a drink and catch our breath. I excused myself out to the water fountain across the hall and watched it begin to fill my empty water bottle with a frown.
Who do I think I am?
I was thinking Sasuke likes me because he keeps being there for me when I need someone to lean on and gets mad for my sake, too, but I was just making a fool of myself. He's my best friend. Of course he's going to care about me and offer a shoulder to lean on.
Even something as stupid as him cuddling me can't mean much because we've been dance partners for over half a year already. He's so incredibly used to being physically close with me that it comes natural. Honestly, I'm a complete moron. If I think about it, the man that I'm most comfortable directly touching is him, too.
None of it means he thinks I'm pretty, none of it means he sees me as more than a friend, and surely none of it means he's willing to risk both our relationship and careers on what could end up just being fleeting lust.
Someone suddenly blew on the back of my ear, making me yelp and jump in surprise, my bottle fumbling through my fingers onto the floor to splash water everywhere. I turned to see Sasuke himself, laughing at my reaction.
With a burning face, I grit my teeth and pulled my towel off from my shoulder to begin cleaning up the mess I made.
His laughter ceased as he knelt down to help me and sobered up. I kept my gaze hard on the floor, refusing to look at his handsome face as he spoke quietly so none of the people passing us would overhear, "You're acting weirder than usual." I finished up and rose to my feet so I could attempt to refill my water bottle once more, ignoring his statement.
He stood and leaned against the wall beside the fountain, nodding at a pair of trainees that said hello as they passed us, "So what's up?"
My spine straightened as I finally met his gaze head on, becoming a bit irritated that he was prying when he's the reason for my anxiety. A couple employees passed by and I snapped out of my stupor, shaking my head as I screwed the cap back onto my bottle and walked away, "Nothing."
It's not like we've really talked that much since we were alone during Christmas break. We only spoke the morning after I stupidly slept in his room because I was shaken up and that conversation had nothing to do with what was going on between us. Besides, he literally said he likes me with no context.
At the time, I thought he might've been confessing because of the serious way he'd addressed me, but now that I think back, he knew I was upset about something at the time. Sasuke was almost definitely just trying to reassure and cheer me up. It's honestly quite selfish of me to have taken it as anything else.
Yeah, we cuddled and he gave me a beautiful birthday gift, but it's not like we made out or something. For all I know, he could be sleeping with one or more of the women he's been involved with over the past six months. Just because I haven't personally seen anyone leave his room, doesn't mean they haven't been there.
The fact that thinking about such a thing makes me crazy jealous pisses me off so much. What right do I have to feel this way?
We flirt, I can admit that easily now, but he literally flirts with everyone. He flirts with Sakura, Tenten, Ino, and Konan. Hell, he even flirted with Haku during the interview earlier and all of us know the Uchiha man's completely straight.
My eyes darted over to the door of the studio when the man in question entered, averting them quickly when he looked up as I took my place beside Gaara so we could run through Fallin' again.
That's right. I need to keep my distance from him until these feelings go away. There's no way I'm anything special to Sasuke Uchiha and letting my hopes get up like this just makes it all the more painful.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone