Forever: 87

It was another hour before Deidara left after a long explanation on what Hidan and Konan really were. Sasori drove him to his parents' home so he could sort out the issues with his apartment and whatever else he needed to take care of, but Eien couldn't care any less.

He thought that this was a mistake. He had hoped that his father would see why, simply because Deidara was human, a mortal and would have to die sooner or later. And if he looked passed that, there was always a chance that the man's past life would wake up once more. Eien knew that for now his soul would be inactive, but he had hoped that his father would cut all ties with Deidara so he would remain that way. With their relationship now becoming solid, Deidara choosing to remember and Sasori standing beside him, Eien didn't know how long it was before his soul was awoken again.

Eien was still awake, contemplating on whether or not he should text Trevor just to occupy his mind a bit when Yoru came to his room, Kuma following behind him.

"You think anymore freaks will come here, all claiming to save that mortal as they try to kill him?"

Eien shrugged and put his phone aside as Yoru plopped down face first onto his bed.

"I was no help today."

"Not your fault," Eien countered, voice flat.

Yoru had his arms under Eien's spare pillow, chin resting on top of it. "Do you know that you are angry almost all the time?"

Eien's eye twitched and he even felt a pinch of annoyance at the statement. "What makes you say that." He was nearly as apathetic as his father, unless Yoru began bothering him too much.

Kuma jumped on the bed, between Yoru and Eien as the demon replied, "I'm your caretaker, unless you forgot. I can feel when you're in distress, if your anxious, fearful, and on the very rare occasion, happy," he mocked, eyes peering up at Eien.

The teen didn't react in anyway at his demon's words. He had already heard something similar from his father years ago, that he and Yoru had a connection that was completely one-sided. If Eien was in trouble, Yoru noticed and helped him. Yoru could be having the time of his life or dying in a ditch and Eien couldn't feel the difference. He also didn't actively try to feel for him, because really, there was no reason to, until now, as Yoru was defenseless and Eien saw to it that he would keep him safe, at least as much as he could. He was the one who made him like this.

Yoru frowned, and huffed out a breath. "I thought you were done feeling sorry." He rolled over so he could snuggle up to Kuma, who whined. "I haven't felt you be properly angry in a long while. Even today, when the demon and angel showed up, you were more irritated than anything." Yoru chuckled. "Usually, when you're not angry, I take that as a sign that something is wrong and I'm usually right. But now you're never mad and I feel like I should be doing something about it, but there's nothing I can do." He reached a hand out and poked Eien in the thigh. "It's all internal, your conflict, the danger you're putting yourself in."

"What danger am I putting myself in?" Eien inquired, not necessarily liking all this cryptic shit that Yoru was pulling on him.

Yoru stopped touching him, eyes unfocused right before he spoke, looking up at Eien, head tilted back. "I don't know," he admitted, "When you're not angry, that means you're in trouble, but in this case, there is no danger, at least from the outside world. So that means that it's coming from elsewhere."

"I'm not depressed," Eien said, already knowing that it was coming. Yoru had mentioned it before and Eien didn't like being diagnosed by someone who wasn't even human.

"How do you know? You–"

"Are you going to list symptoms now?" Eien asked, tone all mock. "If I don't have an interest in anything, congrats, you found out something about me that could've been figured out two centuries ago. I'm lonely? No shit, the only company I have is you and my dad, with the rare occasion of a mortal–"

"You feel guilt."

Eien's jaw clenched. "My reasons for that are rational."

"Depression is rational."

"So what? You make me do all this shit like fight, learn to play the piano, deal with my dad teaching me to heal and about control. What does this accomplish?"

Yoru scratched Kuma's stomach a bit and Eien was sure that he wasn't going to answer until Yoru sat up quickly. "There is more to life than feeling guilty about occurrences that you had no control over. Maybe I just wanted your mind occupied, so there was no room to feel upset, and soon you would only feel anger when you saw me." Yoru stood up and whistled at Kuma to get off as well. "Maybe I just want you to hate me again," Yoru pondered, eyes off to the side, seemingly lost in his thoughts. "Angry is normal, and it's safe." Yoru smiled bitterly at him and Eien was sure that Yoru had never looked like that, at least not towards him. Anything that was ever mocking was for fun, but this just shocked him. "Maybe this is the new norm, and I just have to retrain myself? But honestly, it's obvious you can take care of yourself now."

Eien didn't want to deny it, because it was partially true. There were instances when he got himself into trouble, but those were slowly disappearing, and Yoru was nothing more than something for Eien to occupy his time with. Someone to heal, someone to keep company, and someone to feel guilty about.

After a moment, Eien shrugged. "Who knows, maybe soon, I'll be the one in trouble and you'll be the one to save me."

"I doubt you'll need help," Yoru replied as he left and Eien had no idea when the demon had become so coarse. It brought up Eien's previous worries and anxiety. Why was Yoru telling him this stuff in the first place? To say that things were changing? Had changed? It seemed that Yoru was dropping a façade, or at least putting one up, one full of contempt and towards Eien.

If Yoru was truly upset and done with him, Eien was sure that his father would let him leave and Eien knew he wouldn't be able to speak up against it. He would pretend that it didn't bug him, but someone whom he trusted very much would be leaving his life. He may say that he hated Yoru everyday, but he was the only one who he could truly be himself with, besides his father of course, but Eien wasn't going to be on his mind for a long while now.

New loneliness began to set in and Eien had to push it down, hoping that Yoru wouldn't notice. Notice how much it was damaging him because Yoru was actively pushing him away, on top of him unintentionally pushing the demon away simultaneously. Perhaps there was a danger inside of him that Eien couldn't feel until now. Now that he considered it, he feared it and knew that sleep wouldn't come easy that night.

–

Eien didn't see Yoru in the morning as he walked out into the living room. His bedroom door was closed, and Eien could sense him on the other side, but he could almost feel Yoru's emotions then. Malice, scorn, hate, hate, hate.

He stopped feeling for him and went into the kitchen for a glass of water to ease his drying throat. Perhaps Yoru was just having a fit and none of those feelings were associated with him? That the hate was towards another thing, maybe directed towards Yoru's situation, but not him.

But what if? It was a voice that Eien wasn't used to hearing, a voice that just gained some volume. What if he hates you because of what you are? He has no reason to like you.

Eien tried going back to a previous mentality. It wasn't like he cared if Yoru liked or hated him before. He was a servant, someone to boss around when he was bored, someone who was only a nuisance.

That was his reasoning as a child, and Eien knew that he had changed from then, even though he may say the same things, he felt differently. But why did he feel differently? When did that–

"Hey, you okay?"

Eien turned his head sharply to see his father's shoulder, and he looked up to see his face, expression slightly pinched. "What?"

"You weren't responding to any of my questions. Is something wrong? You and Trevor have a fight yesterday?"

Slowly, Eien shook his head, doing his best to get his thoughts straightened out as he looked back at the glass in his hand. "No, it's..."

Sasori nearly seemed uncomfortable at that moment. "Oh, it's Deidara, isn't it."

Eien's eyes widened and he quickly looked up at his father. "No, no, it's not that." Perhaps it had been, but once Yoru came around, the thought of Deidara had been wiped from his mind. "It's just..." And then Eien realized what a great excuse that would have made. Being upset over Deidara sounded better than being depressed over what Yoru thought of him. "School," he lied.

By the look on Sasori's face, he didn't believe him, and Eien tried to appear apologetic. That seemed to be enough for Sasori to back off. "All right, I have some time before work, what do you want for breakfast?"

Eien didn't reply but his father began making something anyway.

–

Trevor noticed his mood as soon as he stepped into the car, and Eien felt his emotions reflect his. "Hey, what's wrong?" Trevor reached out to him, and Eien nearly pulled away, his hand twitching, but he kept it in.

He had to take a deep breath. "Family issues, sorry for..." He didn't know what he was sorry for, or if he was really apologizing to Trevor. "Sorry for being so upset," he supplied instead.

Trevor shrugged and began to drive. "No need to apologize, we all have our days."

Eien stared out the front window. "Yeah."

–

School was a nice distraction. There was nothing at school associated with Yoru really, and it reminded Eien that he could pretend to be human. Being human was an easier life in his opinion, and he could ignore his true role while he was stressing over the new classes he had as the term was renewed.

The term was only a week in and Eien had no classes with Trevor, so that also soured his mood. On an even worse note, he had a class with Emily, and she was close enough that Eien could feel animosity pour off of her when she saw him. He wasn't entirely sure why she was upset with him, as she didn't know that he and Trevor were dating, but just the fact that they spent time together appeared to grate on her nerves. So Eien did his best to avoid Emily all together.

At lunch time, Eien was snacking on some grapes while Trevor tried to finish his homework before he class started. Eien noticed right away that he was stressed. "You shouldn't procrastinate so much," Eien said between chews of his snack.

"I wouldn't have if we didn't hang out yesterday," Trevor muttered back and to Eien it felt like daggers, the blame on him.

He narrowed his eyes at Trevor, everyone else at the table oblivious to them. "Well, at least I'm not an idiot and get verbs mixed up so easily. How did you even get into the third term for German?"

Trevor looked up from his paper, an inquisitive look in his eye. "And I'm guessing you know German then?"

Eien didn't even reply as he snatched Trevor's homework from him as well as a pencil, now getting the attention of the others at the table. The questions were easily understood and Eien quickly wrote in the correct response in each slot while everyone just stared.

"I'm not an idiot," Eien said as he practically shoved the paper towards Trevor. "Enjoy getting an A for once."

Someone snickered by Eien. "Jesus Christ, Eien, what got under your skin today?"

Trevor looked slightly bewildered and then Eien remembered that he had to keep up a façade, one that was normal, one that was human. His eyes widened, and he nearly blushed. "I... didn't mean it like that," he said weakly, his apology almost nonexistent.

Trevor shrugged his shoulders. "It's cool, man, I just hope that these answers are right." The smile he gave was tight, and Eien could tell that he was uncomfortable by his attitude.

Great, another person he had upset.

"Eien, I thought you were from France?" Someone asked.

Eien looked at Suzanne. He composed himself quickly. "Well, I just came from France. I've been to multiple countries before then as well."

"So you know how to speak German?"

Not liking the attention, Eien scowled. "A little."

"Did you get to drink there, cause the drinking age is so young?"

"No," Eien said, voice firm enough that he hoped others got the hint to stop asking questions. That was how you were found out, by little slip ups like these, showing that you knew another language. Eien had to keep himself in check, because he knew that if his father found out how much he was revealing, he would be in serious trouble.

It wouldn't be a witch hunt, but with enough prodding, Eien would spill enough to be suspicious and perhaps a demon would find him. He couldn't afford being revealed.

Eien went back to eating his grapes, not feeling up to eating anything else in his lunch as everyone began ignoring him again. He felt Trevor nudge him and he looked up.

"You want to hang out after school?"

To talk, Eien thought. He shook his head. "You have homework," he said before grabbing his bag and walking away from the table. He knew that he was being unreasonable, that Trevor didn't really mean what he said before Eien blew up at him, but it was these little things that were setting Eien off now.

He walked in the hall, trying to take deep breaths when someone grabbed his shoulder from behind. Fighting Hikari enough had already improved his reflexes and he had to stop himself from breaking the person's hand and elbowing them in the ribs. Instead he pulled away and turned around to see Emily staring at him, a frown deep set as her countenance.

Eien never really had to face her by himself and he gave a quizzical look. "Yeah?" He drawled out. "Do you need help with some homework from class, or..."

"You hang out with Trevor a lot, right?" She took a step towards him and Eien moved back. Eien didn't reply, but Emily continued to talk anyways. "Do you know if he's dating anyone right now?"

Eien could tell a half-truth and say that Trevor was dating someone, but he wouldn't be able to say who, and Emily may not believe him. So he lied. "No, Trevor's not dating anyone at the moment, and I don't think he's looking for a relationship."

"You're lying," Emily said as she took another step towards him. "Trevor doesn't like being alone, so he's either with someone or still thinking about me." Emily was holding onto the bottom of her sweatshirt tightly, and Eien thought it would soon stretch out of place.

"I'm not–"

"He still cares, I know he does," Emily sounded like she was completely in denial and she looked towards Eien desperately. "Can you just ask him if he wants to be with me again?"

Eien grimaced. "I'm not going to do that."

Then a change happened in Emily and Eien was surrounded by anger. He was so tired of feeling anger, as it bit at him, festering on the surface of his skin before sinking in. Before he would be influenced by it, but now it made him irritated and sick to his stomach.

"Why don't you want to help me? Don't you want Trevor to be happy? It looks like you guys are best friends, ever since you met and–" Emily stopped and she glared at Eien darkly. "Did you convince Trevor to break up with me?"

"What?" Eien didn't do anything like that, as Trevor broke up with her before they even got together.

"Well, it just seems all very convenient. When you two first met, Trevor started acting all weird and I think you had something to do with it," Emily said, her voice grating and almost hysterical. "Do you like him or something?" Eien tried shaking his head, but she continued. "That's sick, he's not even gay and you're trying to get with him or something," Emily was practically spitting the words. "We've had sex, he's obviously straight, so why're you even talking to him, Eien? He's never going to like you, so just back off–"

Eien was unsure of what caused Emily to stop, but he felt consumed in rage– perhaps entirely his own– and he hadn't felt this way in a long while. It just all piled up on him, Yoru, Trevor, and now Emily, who he wished would just leave him and Trevor alone. He wished that Emily would just leave, and not come back. He wanted her gone.

Any ill intent that Emily had was now gone, and her features contorted into one of pain. "I need to go."

She practically ran past Eien, who just slumped in relief. He didn't care what Emily did, as long as she was gone from his life.

–

Eien couldn't hang out with Trevor after school, as his boyfriend had a club activity that he forgot about, so Eien walked home instead of asking for a ride from Trevor. He wasn't sure if Yoru would be home or not, but if he was, Eien didn't expect his mood to have changed at all.

The weather had warmed up lightly as he walked, and by the time he got home, he was going to head straight to the shower, but he was distracted by music blasting from Yoru's room. Was that Lana Del Rey again?

Eien was just going to walk by Yoru's room to peak in on the demon, when an arm came around his shoulder and pulled him in close to a body.

"I'm sorry~"

Eien struggled to look up see Yoru, red in the face, his gaze hazy. Feeling something bump against his leg, Eien saw it was a wine bottle, practically empty. "What?" He struggled to push Yoru away gently so he wouldn't go stumbling, but Yoru tightened his hold.

"I made you feel like shit," Yoru muttered, his chin resting on top of Eien's head.

"That's fine just get off, Yoru–"

"No, no, really, I was upset that you didn't need me anymore and that's just," Yoru broke up and he made a pained noise. "What am I supposed to do wh-when I leave you?"

Eien frowned, not resisting Yoru's hold as much anymore. "You don't have to leave right away, Yoru. Besides," he said gently, as he took the bottle away. "if you did leave, who would take care of you? You're a mess."

Yoru sniffled and Eien knew that it was just the alcohol, but it made Eien nearly uncomfortable that Yoru was this emotional and unstable again. It made him worry for the demon's soul.

"No~" Yoru drawled and hugged Eien tighter. "Stop feeling like that." He began to sway a little from side to side. "Hugs make everything better. They... boost your oxytocin levels and they make you feel awesome."

Eien tried to reach a hand around to pat Yoru's back in encouragement to let him go. "Yeah, hugs are great, Yoru, but I think you should rest now. Maybe go to bed." Moving Yoru towards his bed, Eien did his best to pry him off and make him sit, before setting the wine bottle down and turning the music off. "I'm not sure how your body is going to react to drinking so much wine, though. Your metabolism is like a human's, right?"

Yoru shrugged his shoulders dramatically that caused him to sway lightly. Running his hand through his hair, Eien kneeled front of Yoru and checked his soul over, seeing if he did anything to damage it. Yoru giggled at Eien's glowing hands and tried to swat him away.

"That tickles," he mumbled, a mirthful smile on his lips, but it soon faded. "Kinda makes me want to..." His brows furrowed and Eien saw Yoru's mouth open lightly, abdomen contracting. Before he could even think about it, Eien grabbed the trash can at the foot of Yoru's bed and held it under the demon's chin to catch the now oncoming vomit.

Eien didn't expect Yoru get this sick, unless he had drank more before this and was now just experiencing the effects of the alcohol. Usually whenever Yoru did drink, it was with others, never alone, and this was the first time he drank with this new body. He was practically a light weight.

A few minutes later, Yoru was still retching, but there wasn't anything else coming out, so Eien chanced it, and moved the waste basket away.

"Feeling better?"

Yoru shook his head and groaned, hands around his middle. "I think I just got abs."

Eien almost rolled his eyes. "You didn't throw up that much. I'll get you some water, and see if we have any pills so you're not too hungover later."

It took a moment, but Yoru nodded his head before laying down on his bed, giving another groan. "Everything is spiny..."

Taking the chance to leave while Yoru was distracted with the ceiling, Eien headed towards the kitchen where he knew there were some pills when his father bought some for Deidara all those weeks ago. He read the instructions and grabbed two pills, and a glass of water before heading back to Yoru.

"Did you drink any water today?" Eien asked as he set everything down to help Yoru sit up, who just shook his head. "Um, I drank... that," Yoru said, gesturing to the other side of the bed, and when Eien looked at the ground over there, he found at least five empty bottles of what used to be hard liquor.

"Holy shit, Yoru, your body can't handle that with your soul the way it is." Eien nearly wanted to do something to Yoru's blood to get it clean again, but he had no idea what. Maybe he could ask his father to bring home an IV or do something else for Yoru. Eien really didn't want to make him a new body.

Yoru burped gently and waved his hand. "I'll be fine, I've dranken more before, don't you know?"

Eien sighed. "Yeah, before. Here," he said, putting the pills in Yoru's hand, and the glass in his other hand. "Can you take this?"

"Mm." Yoru popped the pills and began to chew before sputtering. "Oh, fucking Devil, that's disgusting," he whined and Eien exhaled harshly. He was in for a long evening

–

Sasori hadn't talked to Deidara since he had dropped him off the night before, but it wasn't like he was needy for him... He really wasn't, but he was still unsure about leaving Deidara alone with Konan and Hidan somewhere on the loose. For now, Sasori just had to hope that the duo wouldn't hurt Deidara as they tried to convince him to stay away from the Devil.

But when Sasori came home to find Yoru without a body and Eien trying to coax him back into his bedroom, any thoughts about Deidara left Sasori's mind.

"What in the–"

Yoru screeching at Eien interrupted Sasori's words. The demon appeared more animal-like than anything else, hunched over onto his claws and feet, like he was preparing to stalk something, or more specifically Eien.

Sasori only felt hostility come from Yoru and by now he knew that the demon was a lost cause. He was damaged and couldn't handle being sane in a human body. He had to be put down.

Eien must have felt his own hostility because his son turned his head towards him, countenance stern. "No, don't do anything."

It was when Eien turned his attention away from Yoru did the demon pounce, knocking the both of them to the ground. Sasori thought that he was going to be too late, that Yoru would rip out Eien's throat but when the demon shrieked at him, Eien yelled back, eyes red and fed up.

Yoru's head moved back, silver eyes wide, obviously shocked and Eien took the chance to stand and smack Yoru upside the head. "This idiot destroyed his body and when I tried to make a new one, he opened up a nasty wound in his soul. When I tried to heal it, he flipped out and I'm trying to get him back in his room so I can help him." The look Eien sent Yoru was strong enough to cause a whimper to come from the demon. "And stand up, you're not a dog," Eien scolded.

To Sasori's surprise, Yoru did that, towering over Eien, but Eien was still in control. Eien was brash as he put a glowing hand to Yoru's left ribs and Sasori could see Yoru trying to move away, his soul groaning, but Eien held him in place with a hand grasping his arm.

"What–"

"Kuma is in your room probably pissing himself right now, so I suggest you calm him down before he decides to shit, too," Eien interrupted. Once the soul was patched together again, Eien dragged Yoru to his bedroom and Sasori had no idea when Eien became so adjusted. Before, just seeing Yoru's soul sent Eien into a panic, but he was actually handling him like it was nothing. Sasori was far from unimpressed.

Giving Eien some time to help Yoru out some more, he did find Kuma in the far corner of his bedroom, whimpering like no other, but once Sasori came close enough the dog was yapping and trying to crawl all over him. Sasori pat his head in an attempt to calm him.

It was only a minute later when Yoru came into the room, now with a stable body, and Sasori was surprised to see him look apologetic.

"Sorry," he muttered, eyes downcast. "I wouldn't hurt him, you know."

Sasori stood up, not convinced. "No, I don't know." He crossed his arms. "What made you lose your body in the first place? Honestly, how stupid–"

"I already gave him the run down, leave him alone," Eien said as he pushed Yoru out of the way to get to Kuma. "I'd be more worried over the fact that Kuma is practically scarred for life." He kneeled down and pet the dog's head.

Yoru had a contemplative look before he whistled and Kuma went up to him immediately, standing on his hind legs with his paws on Yoru's abdomen, whining up at him and trying to lick his face.

"I'd say he's fine," Yoru said, and Sasori just stared at Eien and Yoru, not completely sure when the two of them had become so calm over everything.

Eien then turned towards him and asked, "What's for dinner?"

Sasori wasn't sure what to even think anymore.