13
Her boss wasn't in today, either. Strange. [Name] shrugged and wrote a note, stating she quit and that he was a bald-headed platypus. She whistled loudly as she returned home, earning odd looks from passerby. They'll never understand me, she thought. But that's fine. I don't need them to.
Once she was home, her mood darkened and she slammed the door behind her. She flung her shoes carelessly and sank onto the floor in front of her couch. [Name] tilted her head, repeatedly making light contact with the seat of the couch. "What did I just do?" she moaned. "I quit my job and Sasuke's gone and I don't know what to do."
Ring!
Ring!
Ring!
Unlike the other times that the beloved tone brought her tingling excitement, it gave her a sense of foreboding dread. "H...ello?" she elongated slowly.
"Hello, Princess."
"Hi..." she said reluctantly.
"Do you recall what happened this morning?"
She started to say, "I didn't mean to-"
"But you did. Shisui will be dead in two days."
"No he won't," she said confidently, her exterior the opposite of what she felt internally. "You have been making threats about him for the past week but he's still alive."
He laughed. "Princess, Princess, Princess. My sweet, little Princess... I am simply building up the main event."
"Pein, please," her voice now desperate and cracking. "Take me instead. Leave him alone, he hasn't done anything."
"Oh but I already have. And I will take you again and again wherever I please. Don't be so blind, Princess. He has been attempting to win your affection and it seems like it's working." The baritone voice smoothly transitioned to one that was menacing and deadly.
"No, you can't take him. Don't take him. Please, don't take him. Don't, don't, don't." She crawled over to the coffee table, her hands trembling as she reached for a glass of water. Her grasp loosened and it spilled over the carpet. "Fuck," she uttered. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
The words of Pein became gibberish as she quickly pressed Shisui's number. When he picked up, he sensed something was wrong.
"[Name], is everything okay?"
"No, I don't know. Can you come over?"
"I'll be right there in a jiffy. Stay right there, okay cutie?" he comforted her kindly before hanging up.
Ring!
Ring!
Ring!
"Pein, I had to call him-"
"Princess, and here I thought you knew I didn't like to share. Greedy, greedy Princess." He sighed as if exasperated. "What will I do with you? Hmm? You know I would do anything for you and yet you insist on going to him. Why? Do you not love me?"
She was quiet as she began to shake back and forth, her arm wrapped around her propped up knees. "I... do. I love you."
"Then why do you want him instead? Shameful."
A feeling of contrition washed over her. Before it could engulf her completely, there was a knock on the door. "[Name]? You in there?" He twisted the doorknob, realizing the entrance was unlocked. He stepped in, his eyes landing on the first thing ahead of him: a wedding picture of Sasuke and [Name].
"Sasuke? Since when did she marry to my cousin of a jerk?" he muttered. His eyes quickly searched for the woman and heard mumbling to his right. He rushed over to the small figure and dropped down to the floor. "Cutie, are you fine? What happened? Tell me." He checked her for any injuries and seeing none. Her eyes held a distant look with her hand holding her phone to her ear.
"I'm not shameful," [Name] said.
"Whore," Pein whispered.
"Cutie, look at me," Shisui said firmly, grasping her by the shoulders.
"His filthy hands touching you and you allow him to... Shameful."
"Look at me!" Shisui shook her. "Who are you speaking to?"
"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know."
He grabbed the small device from her hand and it shook her from her trance. She cried out and said, "No! Pein will kill you! Shisui, stop!"
Shisui ignored her cries and her attempts to retrieve it from him, dodging her violent swipes. "Hello? Why are you bothering [Name]?"
But there was no response and when he checked the screen, he realized the phone was not in a call.