Happy endings are great.

Chapter 4

Itachi is driven into a corner. He knows he has officially lost to Sasori and there is nothing left for him in the competition anymore, yet something - stubbornness? - is preventing him from turning away and moving on with his life.

Itachi knows himself well. He knows how self-centred he tends to be and it doesn't bother him. He is content with the way he is and, despite the small diversion from his path that Deidara forced him into, he sees no reason for changing himself. If anybody has a problem with him, they can go jump off a cliff.

And even so…

Even though he knows all this and is convinced in its truism, why must his mind keep lingering on the one topic he really needs to forget?

Deidara.

He lost him and he's not used to losing, that's true. However, he's not dense - he knows when it's for the best to retreat in order to save face, and he's not the kind to dwell on bittersweet memories.

It's all over, gone and done with, so - why can't he stop this feeling that he needs to get Deidara away from Sasori?!

Deidara is none of his business anymore. Be Sasori whatever he might (Itachi has already decided on it being an evil aura that surrounds the redhead; further details are beyond him, though), it's not something Itachi should worry himself over.

Yet he is.

Why?

Do his feelings for the blond really run that much deeper than he would have thought?

-x-

Sasori has never felt better in his existence. Never did he expect things to go so smoothly. It has only been two weeks since Deidara first came over to his place and he already seems to be ready for it.

A brilliant smile that bares his teeth crosses the redhead's face as Deidara steps out of the classroom. The blond's eyes - seeming somehow tired and worn out nowadays, yet still holding their beauty in them - instantly glance around looking for the redhead until they find him and he happily jogs into the redhead's arms.

"Hey, babe," Sasori mutters, kissing the blond's forehead. Deidara's embrace is weak, like he's drained of energy, but Sasori can tell that he's pressing himself against him as hard as he can. A content smile crosses, once again, the redhead's face.

He really is ready.

"Let's go grab some lunch?" Sasori suggests.

Deidara nods eagerly and the redhead guides them into the flow of students all heading towards the canteen. His eyes run over the herd of people and notice the familiar figure monitoring them from the other side of the hallway. The figure notices Sasori watching as well and their eyes lock momentarily. Deidara doesn't notice the two holding gazes - Sasori's expression growing more triumphant as Itachi's darkens - all the while they pass each other; eventually the couple turns the corner, disappearing from Itachi's sight.

Sasori knows that Itachi has still yet to give up and that his weak human senses have already warned him to stay away, yet he still wishes to fight and tear Deidara away as well. Sasori has been keeping an eye on him; he cannot let Itachi get Deidara alone for a talk and pose a threat.

Although it wouldn't really matter anymore, Sasori reasons. Itachi's too late, there's nothing he can do anymore. Still, - Sasori's hold on the blond tightens and he plants a kiss on his head - he doesn't like others fooling around with things that are his.

The two enter the canteen.

Sasori's eyes wander upon the clock on the wall.

Four more hours until school lets out.

Four hours and it will all finally be done.

"Babe?" he murmurs to Deidara.

"Hm?"

"Let me take you somewhere after school."

Deidara's eyebrows rise in wonder, but his eyes show happiness. "To where?"

Sasori half-smirks and pecks his lips. "That's a secret."

Once school finally lets out - Sasori has been waiting quite impatiently for this - the two settle down in the redhead's car. Sasori is just about to start the engine when a loud scream filled the air in front of the school building. It was loud enough to be heard over the noise of the street and students.

"DEIDARA!"

It startles Sasori, but the startle turns into anger in a flash. Stupid human, he thinks and rolls up the windows, starting the engine.

"Sasori?" Deidara says hesitantly.

"It's just Itachi," Sasori growls. "Let's get out of here." He pulls out of the school parking lot and onto the street. Deidara shifts in his seat and turns around to see through the back window. His eyes widen when he sees the dark haired male run after them.

"S-sasori!" he exclaims, pointing his finger at Itachi who was speeding after them; he is no match for the car and they are losing him. Deidara can tell that he was yelling something, but isn't able to distinguish the words.

Eyes wide with fear, he turns to Sasori. He is taken aback by the expression on the redhead's face.

Sasori can well understand what Itachi is shouting and his eyes narrow with anger. Stop interfering with my plans, you worthless human! he thinks with more force than intended. The second the thought emerges in his mind, he regrets losing his cool and collects himself, but the damage has already been done and there is no taking it back.

He slams the gas pedal against the floor, but not fast enough to stop Deidara from seeing the following:

As Itachi is running, refusing to give in despite the hopelessness of the situation, a truck appears from a narrow side street at full speed. There is no way either the driver or Itachi could have seen it coming or could have prevented it. Their collision is marked by a high pitched scream that comes from Deidara's mouth.

A second too late, Sasori turns the corner, out of sight.

-x-

The redhead's hands clasp the weeping teenager's head as he plants kisses on his face, wiping away the tears that way. Deidara is shivering, his lips mouthing incoherent words as he leans against Sasori for support. Each time the redhead's hand runs through his hair, it feels like a piece of his sadness and mourning is taken away, and replaced with - numbness and exhaustion.

Deidara becomes so tired he almost dozes off, but the cold breeze blowing softly in his face manages to keep him awake. Eventually he calms down enough to stop sobbing.

"It'll be alright, Dei," Sasori whispers. "Just a little bit more."

Deidara pushes back a little to look the redhead in the eyes. His own blue eyes are rounded by reddened eyelids while he looks at Sasori's perfectly pale face, and his eyes that are not brown anymore, he notices. They are now an incandescent red, looking so alive Deidara is not sure whether the flames dancing in them are his imagination or real.

"Are you ready?" Sasori asks, his voice like a thousand angels that enchant the poor mortals.

"Yes," Deidara breathes, having no idea or interest in what he just agreed to.

Sasori smiles and lets go of the blond, taking his hand and standing up. Deidara stands up, too, and in a flash, he can't remember anymore where they used to be, everything around them becomes swirling patterns of black and red that circle them like they are inside a whirlpool.

Wind blows and messes with Deidara's hair, but it's not chilly anymore. As a matter of fact, it's warm, very warm. Deidara feels like they're in a desert; the air is hot, almost burning, and very dry. He feels his skin becoming dry like sand and throat hoarse with thirst. In his grip, Sasori's hand still remains on the same temperature, eventually seeming cold.

As the whirlpool around them fades, it reveals a scenery of a courtroom seen through a red mist. There are people whose faces are too blurred for Deidara to properly distinguish sitting on the benches around them and he, with Sasori, is standing in front of the judge's raised desk. As Deidara looks up, he sees a figure looking down at them from the judge's seat and that figure Deidara recognizes - it's Sasori's granny.

"The heir is present," a voice announces somewhere in the room. To Deidara the whole scene is like he's watching it underwater - everything seems blurred and the voices are so distant. To top it off, something is making him sleepy and his eyelids feel heavy. Only this one small voice somewhere inside of him - Deidara has no idea where it is coming from - is telling him to pay attention and stay awake.

"Let the Coronation ceremony begin."

Coronation? Deidara thinks. What coronation?

"Akasuna Sasori," a voice speaks and this time Deidara realizes it's Sasori's granny speaking, "according to the laws of succession of the Underworld, you are to succeed to the throne after your older brother, Orochimaru, the Lord of the Underworld. After the Great Lord's funeral, you were given the assignment to collect a soul to be devoured before acceding to the throne. Is the soul bearer present?"

"Yes." Sasori's loudly voiced word echoed in the room and in Deidara's head, bouncing off the wall of his mind, only to hit the opposite wall and elicit the question that should have emerged a long time ago: what is going on?!

The question feels heavy in Deidara's mind, as if it doesn't belong or isn't wanted there. But the more he concentrates on it, the more it arouses interest in him. His eyelids start feeling lighter and the voices speaking begin sounding clearer.

The mist starts to fade.

"The regent, Akasuna Chiyo, will you pass your approval of Akasuna Sasori acceding to the throne as the Lord of the Underworld?"

Deidara is looking around in the sudden clarity that has emerged in his mind, his thoughts racing.

Underworld? Soul devouring?

He hasn't agreed to any of this.

"I do."

"Then, Akasuna Sasori, you may proceed."

Deidara feels Sasori next to him shifting and turning to face him, making him face, too. Sasori isn't looking him in the eyes, Deidara can't even tell what he is looking at; it's like he is looking right through him without actually seeing him.

Deidara begins to shift uneasily and watches as the redhead's lips twist in a broad smile, revealing his sharp fangs - Deidara nearly screams at the sight of them; it's like looking a shark in the mouth. Sasori moves closer to him and Deidara feels something being sucked out of him. He can't breathe - it's like the air from his lungs is being taken away, but that's not it. It's something else entirely.

Realization of Sasori starting to devour his soul pierces him like a knife.

"STOP!" Deidara screeches, pushing the redhead away. Having not seen that coming, Sasori stumbles back and falls on the floor. "I'm not doing this!"

A noise of surprise breaks out and there are voices shouting over each other; one of them eventually quiets the rest:

"What is the meaning of this, Akasuna Sasori?!" it demands. "This soul isn't ready to be devoured yet!"

Deidara stares at the dumbfounded redhead lying on the floor and he feels like crying, but the shock won't allow him to. He has been tricked and taken advantage of - again! Human or not, even Sasori has turned out to be the same as everybody else.

"Y-you duped me," Deidara whispers, although he isn't sure whether anyone hears him. He can't believe this. He hugs himself tight; this time, it really does feel like it is the air that is being sucked out of him. He can't breathe, his head is swimming. He can physically feel himself breaking on the inside.

People - demons - are still buzzing around him, but he listens to none of it. This just can't be real.

"Go away, my nightmare," Deidara whispers and gasps, covering his mouth. The uncried tears are blocking his airways and suffocating him. He can't take this. "GO AWAY!"

All of a sudden, everyone around him quiets and he sees them all glancing at him for a second.

Then the entire scenery begins to dissolve: the colors that made up the people around him get smeared like a fresh painting and create another whirlpool around him that takes everything away - including Sasori. The wind is strong that blows around him and pushes him to the ground; he collapses.

When Deidara finally awakens, the whole courtroom is gone along with everyone in it. He finds himself in a forest, the sky above him a mass of gray. He is perched on the ground covered in moss that feels wet beneath his hands. He stands up.

Without giving the direction he'll be going in any thought, Deidara begins to walk, looking in front of him with a blank look. Although he has this feeling of total emptiness and numbness inside of him, his mind is racing with thoughts of what has just gone down.

Itachi?

Itachi, who only used him as a doll to accessorize his own outlook, was chasing after him as Sasori took him away from school into an unknown place. The memory of the truck appearing out of nowhere and hitting him replays in Deidara's head but he doesn't even wince.

Sasori?

Sasori, who was his remedy, who took away all the pain Itachi and Deidara's homophobic mother caused him, turned out to be the heir of the Lord of the Underground and had only used him to get to his throne. Just like Itachi had used him to complete his own image of the ruler of the school.

Ino? Ino had turned away from him the second she learnt that he had dumped Itachi.

His mother? His mother would disown him, were she to find out about her son's homosexuality.

And me? Deidara thinks as the woods begin to thin and he can see a meadow approaching. What about me?

As he continues pacing and exits the woods, he comes to realize that it is no meadow that waits for him at the of the forest. Where the high, steep face of the rock ends, he sees more trees growing way down below.

Deidara doesn't even halt or hesitate, he just continues walking. What would be the point in hesitating? As if anything is going to change, as if there is a single person that would try and stop him from jumping.

As if he means anything more to the world than an accessory.

Half a meter before the edge of the cliff, Deidara takes a leap.

THE END

Happy endings are great. Too bad they are so rare.