EMO ANGEL part 3

For the first time in his life, Kisame didn’t hate going to school.

His classes were boring, repetitive, and geared towards the kids who couldn’t have pointed out their home country on a globe if they were given a map and directions. The teachers were nothing short of disinterested, self-centered kids who refused to grow up and had just taken this job to have the two months of summer vacation that came with the job. And if the cafeteria food didn’t make you sick, having to stay in the same room as some of these teenagers surely would. Still, Kisame didn’t hate his new school. He blamed this on Itachi.

Lunch was only thirty minutes, but it was the best thirty minutes Kisame had all day. Despite the Uchiha’s lack of interest in him, chatting with him, or anything having to do with Kisame, the shark was inexplicably drawn to him. Little by little, he was able to learn about the weasel. Just small things here and there.

The first thing he learned was that the Uchiha had an insatiable sweet tooth. Half the things on his lunch tray were guaranteed to be made of sugar, or sugar coated. How Itachi managed to keep his teeth so white when he ate all these sweets would forever be a mystery to the shark.

The next thing he learned was that the Uchiha rarely ever spoke, and when he did it was usually just a monosyllabic answer. That was the third thing Kisame learned; how to tell Itachi’s yes ‘hns’ and no ‘hns’ apart.

Slowly, Itachi began to let Kisame know more and more about him. Like how he had one little brother who hated him, and two parents that he hated. Kisame told him he lacked siblings, and his father was long gone. He told the weasel about living on his own, and even a little about the other people in his apartment. All in all, their friendship was going rather well, in the shark’s opinion.

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“…So that’s about it, mom,” Kisame said, sitting in front of his mother’s headstone. Several weeks had passed since he’d last spoken to her, so he thought a visit was overdue.

“I still haven’t told him that you’re dead, though,” Kisame said. “I’m not sure how he’d react.”

“Most people would say it’s morbid to talk to a dead person over their grave. Crazy even.”

The shark twisted around to look up at Itachi. The Uchiha was standing there, an unreadable expression on his face. “So, is this your mom?” he asked, sitting down beside the shark.

“Uh-huh.”

“…”

“Itachi, why are you here?”

“I’m visiting a grave as well. My best friend Shisui’s buried here.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“..”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened? Did he die in a car crash, or-“

“He shot himself.”

“What?!”

Itachi brought his knees to his chest, staring down at the ground, lips set in a grim line. Kisame began to feel uncomfortable, and looked away. “If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”

“Everyone else knows what happened. You may as well hear it too.

Shisui and I had always been really close. And then one day in middle school, he asked me out. I accepted, and for a time, things were good.

But after a while, the other kids started making fun of us. They said it was weird, the kind of relationship we had. It didn’t bother me, but their words ate away at Shisui. So he finally broke up with me.

Needless to say, I was furious that he’d just dumped me because he didn’t like what everyone else was saying about us. I started ignoring him, then just avoiding him. So did a lot of other people. Shisui didn’t realize it, but when the kids were teasing us, the only one on his side was me. So now, we were both alone.”

Itachi’s hands clenched into fists, and his voice became much quieter as he went on. “He started acting distant, and didn’t even bother going to class most of the time. And then one day, he didn’t show up at school. I was a little worried; we’d been friends for years, after all. So I went to his house.

The door was open, and neither one of his parents were home from school. So I just walked in and went straight up to his room.” Itachi shut his eyes and stayed quiet for a few minutes before going on. “There was a puddle of blood, and a gun in his hand.

I called the police and everything, but there was nothing they could do. Since I was the only one in the house, and since I discovered the body, they started questioning me, getting my fingerprints, everything. Everyone started saying I killed Shisui because he broke up with me. Even when they determined it was suicide, not everyone believed it.

Sometimes, I just come here to see his grave. It’s the only time it feels like he’s really dead, you know?” Itachi asked, looking at Kisame.

The shark nodded in understanding. “She died because I was acting stupid,” he muttered, making Itachi raise a brow, intrigued.

“I was outside, and I wanted to bring this stupid cat inside the house before it froze. I ran into the street, and a car was coming right at me. My mom shoved me out of the way, but the car hit her instead. She never had a chance. It’s different, but in a way, I guess we both played a part in their deaths.”

“…”

“…”

“You’re right; it is different,” Itachi said, rising to his feet. “But thanks.”

“Hmm?” Now Kisame rose to his feet. “For what?”

“…I’m not sure. But thanks.” Itachi walked off then, feeling better on the inside than he had in a long while.