Fire

Sasuke woke up sweating, he had been having the same recurring dream of red eyes looking at him from outside his parents home. The eyes were dotted with commas swirling and mesmerizing him, and then he had felt cold clamouring his skin. He wanted to approach the eyes and so he approached it, but then instead of reaching the eyes he tumbled down and down and down. He woke before he fell into the darkness in his dream.

He wiped away the sweat sticking to his pale skin and wrenching his dark locks. Sasuke combed his long bangs to the back of his head, he reached for his black scrunchie which he tied onto the knob of his bed frame by habit. He tied his long bangs onto the back of his head so he was wearing his hair in a half ponytail.

Breathing hard and frowning he reached for his hand towel which hung on the end of his bed frame near his feet and wiped his face and neck. He then noticed that  the white singlet which he wore to sleep was soaked with his sweat and Sasuke then noticed that the ceiling fan wasn’t spinning. So he stood and switched on the light but the light wasn’t working too. He became uncomfortable from his sticky singlet and so took it off.

Sasuke was sure he had paid his electricity bill on time and so he went to the fusebox located in the living room of his apartment and opened the box. His room was dark, but as his apartment faced the other block, he still received a little light from the corridors light of the neighbouring block which made everything still visible. Through the low light he saw that all the fuses looked normal and there was no sign that any electrical appliance in his apartment had caused an overload of electricity.

Sasuke then grabbed for his work backpack and grabbed his USB fan along with his power bank. He put them together and opened the sliding door to his living room. He sat down and switched on his USB fan. In between the warmth of the living room and the wind of the USB fan he was getting comfortable.

Sasuke decided to sleep on the bamboo mat in his living room, he had no roommates despite the house being a four bedroom house. Before he lay on the bamboo mat, he took the fleece cloth from his sofa and lay it on the mat, and then he grabbed for a sofa cushion to use as his pillow.

He decided to resolve the electric issue later when the sun is up and started thinking about his dream. The dream had not appeared in his sleep for almost month until today. It had been scary at first but now it was something which intrigued him. The red eyes with the swirling commas had become like a puzzle for him, he realized after a few times of dreaming about it that he could approach it. But every time he was close he would be pulled away. Somehow he was never able to reach the eyes and so it became just another dream for him.

Sasuke also never thought about sharing his dreams with his co-workers, it was just something he preferred to keep to himself. He didn’t care if people see him as crazy because of the dream, it was just that there was nothing that his friends could offer about the dreams. Some of his friends like Ino and Sai, would love to interpret his dream but he didn’t see it as something worth sharing. Then again Sasuke was never really close with his friends since they were also his co-workers, the only person he was comfortable enough to spend after work hours was with Neji. Neji never went overdose about anything, but Neji does not also entertain things like dreams. He once said to Ino that dreams are your deepest desires, so why should you let someone else interpret your dreams and know your deepest desire. Don’t wear your heart on your sleeve.

Sasuke’s body temperature began to cool down as the heat of the night escaped through the window. He ignored the clock and made an assumption that it was about 2-3 am in the morning since he was still sleepy. Sasuke had no problem falling back to sleep since he had nothing to think about for tomorrow because tomorrow was a long weekend and he had no plans yet. His parents weren’t in Konoha and had flown along with his newly married brother for a two in one honeymoon trip. Meaning his brother flew for his honeymoon trip while his parents tag along, the senior Uchiha would stay with an old friend in Kuala Lumpur while the newlyweds would head to tropical Langkawi for a week getaway. They will rejoin the senior Uchiha later when they would return to Konoha. Sasuke had declined since he had been forced by his best friend Sakura to go to a blind date as her chaperone. She didn’t want to bring her parents along since she didn’t want to be nagged for being a 26 year old unmarried woman and being heckled into marriage with a stranger.

Sasuke closed his eyes and went to sleep thinking how silly Sakura was of thinking too much about marriage when working woman are normal to be marrying late these days. He thought Sakura could have handled her parents better by being more straightforward with them instead of giving them excuses about work and there’s no one to meet.

Soon Uchiha Sasuke was asleep and the red eyes never came again into his dream that day.

“Hey Naruko, here!” Shion waved at her best friend who had just finished her last class of the day. Shion checked her watched and saw that she had been waiting for Naruko for half an hour and so enquired again. “Held up by Kakashi-san? Anyway, what are you doing today?”

Naruko grimaced and sat in front of her pal. She made a delighted face at the bowl of ramen which Shion was eating and asked. “Waah, you didn’t wait for me?”

“I was starving, I didn’t have lunch since Kakashi-san also held our class late earlier today.

Naruko made an apologetic face and said, “i’m sorry that I couldn't accompany you for lunch. I was already late from the audition.

Shion pushed the bowl towards her friend and Naruko shook her head and instead head to the hot food counter to order her own ramen. The two blondes were degree students of Konoha University had been best friends since high school and then had worked for the same company, in different departments. Shion worked in the Human Resource department as a senior clerk while Naruko had worked as a photographer with the Media and Publicity Department. At the age of 21 they both thought they wanted more from work so had decided to apply for scholarships from Konoha for underprivileged people and had succeeded in their interviews. For being excellent workers, their company, Sarutobi toys had also promised that they could take half salaried study leave instead of quitting work.

“I want more chicken in my ramen, thanks for the offer anyway Shion,” Naruko sat back on her chair. She pushed aside her file onto her left and sghed.

“Kakashi-san asked us to think about Interning plans. I thought I wanted to intern at Sarutobi Toys but Kakashi-san said this could be our chance to try a prestigious company.”

Shion nodded, “we could easily intern at Sarutobi Toys but I always wanted to work at Hyuga corporation. They had branches in fourteen countries you know. Why don’t you try Uchiha Works? It’s near to your Godmother’s house, you can save on money and we can go travel right after we finish studies. I am bored of being a broke student,” Shion laughed at her own words.

“Shhh, don’t talk so loud. You’ll annoy these poor students. Talking about finishing our studies, we have another year before we graduate right? How time flies,” Naruko remarked.

The food server hollered for Naruko’s name and she got up and fetched her bowl of ramen from the hot food counter.

“Thanks for the delicious meal she said. Iruka-san you are the best!” Naruko gave a thumbs up at the server. He was also the cook at the cafe which was located in between the School of Mass Communication where Naruko studied and the School of Office Management where Shion attended.

“Where are we heading after this? You haven’t answered my question,” Shion said. She had finished her ramen and had now untied her ponytail and retired her waist long hair into a messy bun.

“Maybe we can go to lunch, I still have Kiba’s car since he hadn’t returned from his swimming competition. Itadakimasu,” Naruko said as she started eating her ramen.

“Yeah, go eat. I need to check my text messages anyway. I am hoping mom won’t come this weekend since my room is a mess.”

Naruko paused and reassured her friend, “Don’t worry I am here for you. I am not going anywhere tomorrow, so we can clean your room before your mom’s ‘surprise visit’ every other week.

Shion retired her long bleached blonde hair into a tighter knot and shook her head to check whether her knot would hold. After she was sure that the knot was secure she said. “Maybe we should go home after this and clean things up. My sister is asking me if I am free this weekend,” she said while scrolling down her phone.

Naruko slurped her bowl down and wiped her lips. “No worries, no let’s go to the mall, our half salary is coming tomorrow and so i can spare a few yens today. I found this really cute dress to wear to the party.”

Shion’s eyes bulged and she shrieked, “i totally forgot about the Faculty party. I am repeating my dress, you still going with me right?”

“Hey of course, the boys in our class are waaaay too young for me and I can’t come with Kakashi-san though he’s like our friend since there can’t be student-teacher affair.”

“Yeah, ok.” Shion said as she began tapping on her phone. “I am telling my mom right now that I can’t come home the weekend of the party.”

Shion’s mom lived just an hour away from here so she was often in her daughter’s face, since Shion was the baby of the family. Her two oldest sister never worried her mother this much.

“I am freaking 26 and my mother acts like I am 15. Ughhh.”

“Lucky you,” Naruko sighed as usual.

So Shion realizing her mistake apologized as usual, “i am so sorry babe. This is the last time i am grumbling about my nosy mother.”

“No worries,” Naruko waved her friends away. “She was ok with people forgetting that she had no parents, since she never met them she didn’t know how it felt to have parents. Thought she had grew up feeling abandoned the feeling of having nagging parents was something she sometimes wished she had known, but sometimes she was happy with being like this. Fortunately for the sunny haired girl, she had a godmother who came into her life when she was fifteen and in secondary school. The aunt, Tsunade Senju was almost never around as she had a large company to oversee an hour away from Konoha University. But she was at every important day of Naruto's life like her secondary school graduation.

The girls headed to Naruko’s borrowed car and they got inside. As Naruko began setting her things and letting the engine warm up, Shion asked, “Do you ever wonder why we don’t have boyfriends, Naruko?”

Naruko held onto the steering and blinked hard. It was a misnomer to call themselves boyfriend-less since Shion had someone hanging onto her like a leech, a way younger guy which Naruko couldn’t recall his name. But it was still true so Naruko decided to entertain her friend.

“Maybe because we are thinking about studies too much?

“That’;s true. I want something for my future before marriage. What are the other reasons?”

“Maybe because our classmates are years younger than us? We are 26 and they are mostly 22-23? Don’t think about it too much, they will come when they come.”

Shion laughed and adjusted her seat. “Well, I was just thinking. Well, let’s go spend our last yens before the half pay comes. I am getting myself a few new panties, mine are torn.”

“That’s TMI Shion, that’s why we don’t have boyfriends, because we are independent girls.” Naruko said and drove the car out of the faculty.

Shion laughed and decided to change the topic into what kind of orange dress was good enough for a party since people would normally wear black.

Sonic was busy arranging things in her small apartment which she shared with Genos. She was turning 26 and had moved in with Genos not long after the Battle of the Monsters last year. She and Genos had decided to try it out living together in another city while Saitama went with Fubuki to discover more about the cause of the Battle of the Monsters to avoid future recurrence.

Genos as usual was reluctant to part with Saitama, but Sonic who everyone was sure was dead during the War was revived by a dying monster and turned Genos’ objective 360. With his beloved sensei on one head heading for the world and a still weak Sonic needing care, Genos was swayed towards Sonic. They had become close and often flirted with each other. Somehow their closeness made Sonic realize that the world would be better with someone like Genos, and Sonic had helped the Hero Association in the Battle of the Monsters.

The War had been caused by an upsurge of Monsters which was born by the seconds, Saitama had been caught in a 24 hour fight with a hundred monsters inside a cave which kept regenerating every few seconds while the rest of the heroes kept the others at bay. Sonic had been caught in a fight and was down near the end of the fight. Genos was devastated but couldn't stop to retrieve Sonic’s body and a few minutes later Saitama ended his hundred monsters fight and saw Genos almost down. He was affected by Genos’ plight and had wiped all the monster in a few series of explosive punches.

Sonic shook the memories away, she was trying to arrange the plates on the dish rack according to the hue of the rainbow but the ghost pain in her legs kept her thinking of the past. Sonic had always been a fighter, but the Battle of the Monsters had given her more scars than she ever had in her lifetime. The pain had disappeared but the memories kept returning sometimes when her scars tightened with skin growth and constant movement.

She quickly arranged the ten plates in varying sizes onto the dish rack and went to the living room to unpack the rest of their boxes. Usually it's Genos who did the cleaning and arranging but today the hero was out for a fitness test with Konoha’s own Hero Association. Genos had been personally invited by Tsunade-san the Governor of Konoha to be a member of the Association. Genos saw it as an opportunity to investigate more about their new home country but Sonic declined.

Sonic didn’t want to be tied down with being a Hero so she did freelance jobs as a private investigator and does security check ups for private buildings. Anyway, she was still on medical leave and attending physical therapy because she wasn’t able to run at the speed of sound like before, so he compensated by doing domestic things around the house while Genos goes out.

There were five boxes to be unpacked, a box of new kitchen utensils which Genos received from Saitama. In return, Genos had gifted Saitama with a box of crabs from. The other four boxes were, Geno's diaries, their clothes, computer and gadgets and gifts from the Hero Association.

Sonic’s home was totally obliterated during the Battle of the Monsters, Saitama and Genos’ too. Not just them, most of the other heroes’ houses were damaged beyond repair. So they all stayed together during the first months of post-battle, at the Hero Association’s out of city quarters. Sonic was itching to get back to his faraway ninja village but she was in no condition to travel, so he roomed with Genos and Saitama.

Saitama and Genos began plotting their next move, but Saitama told Genos to go live his life for awhile. Genos was already in a hate-like relationship with Sonic and Saitama saw a potential between the two. After months of deliberation and Genos discovering that he would like to be with Sonic too for now, though it meant being away from Saitama, the trio part ways.

At first after he fully recovered physically Sonic went home with Flash back to her ninja village. After a few months of finding that she was no longer adept at staying home, and home felt wherever her heart was, Sonic came back to the city which had been rebuilt. Saitama was already gone and only Genos was there having been under maintenance.

They both decided to be together and tried to be roomies at first, until Genos received an invitation to be a guest Hero at Konoha’s newly established Hero Association. The former ninja village was now being constantly hounded by monsters and had taken an initiative to defend its cities in the aftermath of the Battle Of The Monsters which damaged cities B,C,D and E.

So now Sonic found himself in a living room setting life inside an apartment with a cyborg for an indefinite period of time. Sonic never thought of time as a period of a year, a few years or decade. She had always been spontaneous and her current situation was never planned and also spontaneous.

There was no one to describe the fact that Sonic would hate her new life, but she realized that her entire life centered around spontaneity was going to have to change. She saw Genos as potential lover but the boy was too deep rooted in his loyalty to Saitama to ever care about a lady ninja. She had been nothing but a menace at first, but time and their constant friction had changed something inside the boy.

Sonic didn’t unpack the box of Genos’ diary and just carried it into the second bedroom which was to be Genos’. She laid the box in a corner and continued to unpack another box where their few clothes were packed in. She carried the box and entered the first room. Each room had its own closet to hang their clothes in and a standing rack which they had nailed to the wall. Sonic took the first few folded clothes and set them on the futon just next to the closet. She grabbed for a few hangers and started putting the clothes onto the hangers and hanged them on the railings. She was done in fifteen minutes and stood looking at the closet admiring her hard work. Since all her clothes were damaged she bought a whole new set of wardrobe. Like Genos and Saitama, Sonic too received monetary compensation from the government and Hero Association for her help and the injuries she had suffered.

There were about ten items hanging in the closet. Two pairs of dark washed jeans, a long skirt, three shirts, two new ninja uniform - still the old designs she chose, one sweater and one dress. Sonic wanted just the basics since she would be wearing shirts and sweatpants while she was out of work. She then bent down to reach a few more folded items and took out her comfy house attire and placed them on the standing rack. After she did that she lifted the box and entered Genos’ room.

After she was done, there in Genos’ closet were three pairs of pants and jeans and three pairs of shirts. Genos didn't want to buy so many clothes since he would usually damage them in battle. Sonic thought Genos should go naked, but the 20 year old thought that though he had no visible private part it was still inappropriate. The six hangers was all that Genos had as his wardrobe.

“This is such an easy job, cohabitation isn't as nightmarish as it sound,” Sonic said out loud to herself. It was already noon so she just glanced at the unpacked boxes and proceeded to check the fridge for food. Sonic had since learned to cook complex meat when she started living with Genos when they lived together at the Hero Association quarters. Before this she only roasted her meat, or steam her veggies and add soy sauce to her food.

Sonic found a piece of chicken and a bunch of tomatoes and proceeded to make baked chicken with some onions she found in her kitchen. Life was different, it was hell, but being dead was more hellish for Sonic. She just thought if she accepted her new life, things would be easier she hoped.