'We're here.' said Sasuke, turning to face me when we arrived to the gates of the Tsukino compound.
'R-right,' I mumbled, forcing myself to stare straight into his eyes. 'Thanks for sending me home.'
He smirked. 'Don't mention it. I enjoyed walking with you.'
Feeling flustered, I looked away from him.
'Are you blushing?' He asked, holding my chin between his thumb and index fingers, tilting my head so that our eyes met.
'No, I'm not -'
'Really?' he breathed, bending down slightly so that his face was just a few centimetres away from my own. A shiver ran down my spine as his breath tickled my face.
'R-really!' I lied, taking a step back. 'Well, look at the time!' I said, glancing at my watch-less wrist. 'We'd better get some sleep -'
'You're not even wearing a watch.' he said, raising his eyebrows at me.
'I don't have to! I can use my intuition.' I defended smugly.
'No, you can't.' he said, flicking my forehead.
I scowled, gingerly rubbing my forehead. 'You're horrible.'
I expected him to give me a snide remark but instead, I felt his lips on my forehead.
My stomach turned fervently.
His lips left me and I stared at him, astounded. 'S-Sasuke ... You ...'
'Sorry,' he smiled, resting his warm hand on my cheek. 'I couldn't help myself.'
Feeling my face heat up completely, I covered it with my hands. 'You're weird.' My voice came out muffled. Although beneath my hands, I was smiling. Sasuke smiled. That rare smile ...
'Says the person covering her face.'
There's the snide remark.
'It's your fault!' I said, turning away from and walking towards the gates, removing my hands from my face. 'Good night!'
I opened the gates and closed them behind me, sure I heard him chuckling.
I couldn't help but smile as I walked towards my house. Then I noticed how all the houses had their lights off.
Feeling a chill go down my spine, I broke into a run.
**********
'Why are you panting?'
'WHAT?!' I yelled, without thinking. Slamming my house door behind me before wrapping my arms around my head in defense.
I then realised who spoke.
Masoto was standing about a meter away from me, looking at me like I had gone mental, a glass of water in his hands.
'Masoto!' I heaved a sigh of relief. 'You scared me!'
'I'm not the one who screamed "what" out of nowhere.' He said, rolling his eyes. 'If anything, your scream scared me.'
'Sorry, sorry,' I said sheepishly before looking around. 'Nii-san isn't at home?'
'He went out with a couple of friends. He should be back soon.'
'Why aren't you asleep yet?' I asked. 'It's getting late.'
He cocked an eyebrow at me. 'I wasn't sleepy and your one to talk. You just came back home!'
'Sorry, I didn't expect to stay out so late. I got too engrossed into the film.'
'What genre?'
'Horror.'
'Oh ...' he said, looking nonchalant all of sudden. 'Well, it's getting late. You'd better get to bed.'
'Right.' I said, climbing up the stairs. 'Masoto, you should go to sleep as well.'
'I know, I know,' he grinned, prancing over to his room before slamming the door shut.
I rolled my eyes at his cheerful demameanour and entered my room before flopping onto my bed.
I stared at the ceiling absentmindedly. I felt my cheeks get warm when I replayed the scene with Sasuke just now in my head.
Seriously ... We should be acting like we were friends. But he keeps doing all that stuff. I sighed. Then again, it's partially my fault. I actually enjoy it when he does those things. Of course I would never tell him that.
I was smiling stupidly without thinking when I heard something downstairs being dragged across the floor - causing a screeching noise.
I frowned. Masoto was in his room so that had to be Nii-san. But why would Nii-san create so much noise at night? Was he drunk? But he never gets drunk. And he didn't like to drink either. Then why-?
CRASH
I jumped up from shock, feeling the back of my neck grow hot. What the hell was that?
That was definitely not Nii-san. He would never be so reckless. Was it a burglar? I grabbed the kunai that was conveniently placed on my night stand.
I activated my Murasakigan, walking cautiously towards the door.
I heard footsteps climbing up the stairs and ... Groaning?
'Free me ... Free me ...'
I froze, losing control over my limbs as my kunai landed the floor with a soft clang.
'Free me ...I'm coming for you.' the voice was now on the other side of the door. The voice sounded pained and scratchy.
I took several steps back, finally hitting my back with the wall, feeling the blood drain from my face as my hands went clammy.
I heard weird scraping noises from the other side, like whoever it was was scratching my door.
I pressed my back against the wall, trying to calm myself down.
Words just couldn't describe how terrified I was. My nails digged deep into my palms as I clenched my fists.
'Free me ...'
The door creaked open and I had to stuff my fist into my mouth to prevent myself from screaming out. My hand rested on the window next to me.
The door slammed open.
Without thinking twice, without looking back once, I pushed open the window with all my strength and jumped out.
'GET AWAY FROM ME!' I screamed, falling.
Once I landed on the ground, I landed right in front Nii-san.
I yelled in shock and he recoiled.
'Makoto, what's wrong -?'
'Nii-san!' I yelled, grabbing his hand. 'Th-the-there's a g-g-ghost!'
'What are you talking about?' he said, raising an eyebrow. 'Makoto, did you have a nightmare?'
'It wasn't nightmare!' I said frantically. 'How could I even get a nightmare when I wasn't asleep in the first place?'
He frowned. 'What exactly happened? Where's Masoto?'
'In the house ...' I said, realising that my brother was left alone in the house with whatever that thing was.
Nii-san walked up the doorsteps, me following timidly behind him.
He slowly opened the door to the house, hitting us with darkness.
I clutched the back of his shirt tightly, trembling.
'Boo!'
'WHAT THE -! I jumped about a foot in the air, nearly falling backwards if Nii-san didn't grab onto my arm. He pulled me up next to him and threw an arm around my shoulder protectively.
'HAHA YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE, MAKOTO!'
'What?' I stared straight at the owner of the voice and felt mixture of feelings - embarrassment, anger and shock. 'Masoto?'
'I can't believe you actually got so scared to the point of jumping out of the window!' He said, doubled over in laughter.
'Masoto, why'd you do that?' Nii-san let out an exasperated sigh.
'Because she said she watched a horror film so I wanted to know just how jumpy she'd be.' He shrugged. 'Just a harmless prank.'
'Just a harmless prank?' I said, gritting my teeth.
'She jumped out of a window, Masoto.' Nii-san said, having a tight grip on me so that I wouldn't suddenly lunge at my twin.
'We jump from buildings to trees and from trees to buildings all the time.' he said, smiling. 'C'mon, it was a pretty cool prank.'
'Why you -!'
'Makoto, no!'
I ran towards him, escaping Nii-san's grip and punched the back of the prankster's head.
'Ow! Why'd you do that!' He whined, rubbing injury.
'You deserved it!' I huffed, folding my arms.
'Masoto, it's the first time she's stepped into this house since she moved out and you scare her off like that?' Nii-san said, smiling weakly.
His words made me shift my feet awkwardly.
First time I stepped in ever since I moved out, huh ...
I laid in bed that night with the lights (because I became a wuss for the day) and stared at my bedroom ceiling, pondering over Nii-san's words.
Should I move back in? I didn't exactly care about my clan members views anymore ...
I sighed, throwing an arm over my eyes to block out the light.
***********
It was the next morning. I came down the stairs, the familiar aroma of Nii-san's cooking filled the air.
I entered the kitchen to see Nii-san removing his apron and Masoto seated at the table, drumming his fingers the table, looking bored.
'I was just about to call you.' Nii-san smiled.
'What was taking you so long?' Masoto grumbled, pouting like a child. 'I'm so hungry. You know we're not allowed to eat until everyone in the house is present, right?'
I chuckled and ruffled his hair. 'Payback for scaring me last night.'
'I wouldn't have scared you if you didn't tell me what type of film you watched.' he said.
I rolled by eyes and sat beside him. Nii-san in front of me.
Halfway through eating, I noticed how Nii-san hadn't touched his food at all.
I frowned, getting a good look at him. He's lost so much weight since I moved out and his dark eye circles worried me. He was a lot paler than before.
I stretched out my arm and reached across the table, resting my palm against his forehead.
He straightened up, blinking at me. 'What is it?'
I put my hand away. 'Your temperature's normal. You don't seem to have a cold or anything.'
'Why would you think I have a cold?' he asked, his eyebrows raised.
'You haven't touched your food and you don't look well.' I said, raising an eyebrow at him. 'Something troubling you?'
'No, I'm fine.' he said, smiling and I could immediately tell it was forced.
My eyebrows scrunched up in worry. 'Nii-san ...'
He suddenly got up from his seat. 'You two continue eating. I'll join you guys later. I'm not hungry yet.'
My eyes followed him as he walked. 'But-'
Without turning to look at me, he patted my head before leaving the kitchen. His footsteps couldn't be heard yet I knew he had walked up into his room.
'Masoto, what's -' I stopped midway when I realised that his chopsticks were suspended in mid-air. He was frowning at his food. 'Masoto?' I called him cautiously.
'He hasn't been himself ever since you moved out, you know.' he said, not turning to look at me.
'What?'
'Nii-san's always seen us as his first priority, y'know.' he sighed, putting down his chopsticks. 'He always has to make sure the two of us are okay before he gets comfortable in any situation. It's gotten worse ever since we lost Otousan and Okaasan. And now that you've moved out, he can't keep an eye on you.'
I stared at him, not used to seeing him so serious and at the same time, feeling guilt bubble in the pit of my stomach.
He folded his arms and leaned back against the seat. 'Geez ... You move out and he's already become this unstable. Can't imagine how he was when he thought I died. Just thinking about it ...'
I stared down at my lap, feeling tears prickle my eyes.
'Huh? H-hey, I'm not saying it's your fault!' he said quickly, putting a hand on my shoulder. 'I can't imagine how horrible it'd be to always receive looks from your own clan.'
'I'm sorry ...' I said. 'I'm always the weak one, huh? I'm always the one causing the most trouble ...'
'Come on! You know it's not like that.' he grinned. 'You're not the one who faked your death, right? You don't even cause half as much trouble as I do!'
I smiled at his words gratefully, wiping my eyes with the back of my hands. He didn't like bringing up the topic of him faking his death. But to say it now somewhat as a joke in order to make me feel better ... I couldn't express my gratitude.
'I'll go talk to him.' I said confidently.
[AUTHOR'S NOTE]
Hi.
Not much Sasuke in this chapter, sorry about that. BUT, however there will be more of him in the next chapter. Also, the next chapter will be somewhat for comic relief, just a little heads up. Anyways, hope you enjoy it!