Are the Roses Red or Black?

I saw the blush creep over Hidan’s cheeks and laughed, “Hey, Kakuzu! Could you get this flucking IV out of my arm?”
“Oh, sure.” He pulled the needle out of my vein.
“Thanks.” I sat up.
“Mikoto’s back! Mikoto’s back!” Tobi jumped around in circles clapping before running over and burying me in one of his famous bear hugs.
I returned it and he let go. I giggled at his spontaneous enthusiasm. Then, my stomach growled and I grabbed at it, “You guys mind helping me to the kitchen before I become anorexic?”
“Uh, sure.” Zetsu said.
Tobi turned around, bent down, and pointed to his back,” Climb on, Miko-chan!”
I giggled like mad trying to get my feet steady on the bed. I almost fell, but it was forward, onto Tobi. I grabbed his neck for dear life and screamed as he ran to the kitchen. He was going so fast that my legs were thrown off with the force and I was horizontal. When we, at last, reached the kitchen, Tobi made such an abrupt stop that I couldn’t help but slam into him with an “Oomf!” before sliding down his back and onto the floor.
“Oh! Sweet floor! How I missed you so!” I attempted to hug the floor.
Tobi picked me up and slung me over his shoulder, chanting, “Tobi help! Tobi get food for Miko-chan!” and skipping around.
“No! My sweet floor! You are gone again!” I yelled.
“What does Miko-chan want?” Tobi asked while rummaging through some cabinets.
“My floor?” I said.
“No, no! What does Miko-chan want to eat!” Tobi corrected me.
“Can I have some fruit?” I asked, giving up my quest for the floor.
“Yup!” Tobi ran again and, soon enough, every fucking piece of fruit in the whole damn base was lined up on the counter by Tobi. I leaned over his shoulder, ready to puke.
“What fruit does Miko-chan like?” Tobi asked.
I suddenly perked up and scanned the fruit.
Watermelon, blueberries, mango, pineapple… Ooo!
“That one!” I pointed to the small, furry fruit in front of me.
Tobi picked it up and placed it in my waiting hands. I immediately took a bite out of the juicy piece of fruit.
“Does Miko-chan like her peach?” Tobi asked.
“Mhm!” I nodded, taking another bite.
I quickly finished off the peach.
“Done?” Tobi asked.
“Yup!” I smiled at him.
He took off running again, and I screamed. He made a dead stop in the hospital room and I slammed into him again. He walked over to the bed. Tobi took me in his arms and sat me on the bed again.
“Thank you, Tobi.” I said softly.
“You’re welcome!” He said excitedly.
“I think I’m going to go take a nap.” I said.
I stood up and tried to find my way to me and Hidan’s room, but I soon found myself lost in the maze of hallways. I screamed and they all came running. I stopped and they asked, “What?!”
“I’m lost…” I said timidly, moving my foot around and looking at the ground.
“What?!” They yelled.
Anger suddenly flared up inside me, “I said I was fucking lost!”
They all anime fell and everyone but Hidan dispersed.
“Follow me.” He sighed and started to walk away.
I followed, “What’s wrong?”
He paused, “You are very troublesome.” And started walking again.
I stood, frozen in place, unable to put one foot in front of the other. His words kept replaying themselves again and again in my mind. When I unfroze, I ran, crying, in the opposite direction. I couldn’t see and ended up running into something. A door. It wasn’t closed properly, so it opened upon impact and I fell, to the floor.
“Mikoto?” Someone asked.
I looked up but I couldn’t see who it was because the tears in my eyes clouded and blurred my vision.
“Mikoto, why are you crying?” The figure kneeled next to me after shutting the door.
I couldn’t answer; the tears caused me to choke on the words I wished to say.
“Come on, Mikoto. Deidara’s here. You can tell me.” He cooed.
“Dei-Deidara?” I asked quietly through the sobs.
“Yeah. It’s me. Don’t cry.” He said, “Tell me what’s wrong. Please?”
“H-Hidan was taking me to our room and when I asked him what was wrong, he stopped and said harshly, ‘You are very troublesome.’ And just walked away. I got so upset that I ran away. Do-do you think I’m troublesome, Deidara?” I asked him.
“No! Never! Hidan doesn’t know what he was saying. You are the most untroublesome girl I’ve ever met.” He said.
I looked up at him with large eyes and, hesitantly, hugged him. Slightly shocked, he hugged back.
“I-I’m so glad to hear that, Dei.” I sobbed into the blonde’s shoulder, soaking his cloak. I am weak.
He patted my back and I looked up at him, smiling.
“M-Mikoto, I-I…” He stuttered.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“I-I…IthinkImightpossiblybeinlovewithyou!” He said so fast that the words all meshed together and were unintelligible.
“Wha-what?”
“I said, I think I might…possibly be…in love…with you.”
I just sat there, staring up at him with drying, tear-stained eyes.
“Can I…kiss you?”
I just continued to stare in shock.
“Forget it! I am such an idiot!” He cursed himself.
All the while, my mind went blank, and I couldn’t think straight. I forgot about Hidan; I forgot about Jashin; and I forgot about everything but right here and now.
“Dei?” I said.
“Yeah?” He looked at me.
I didn’t respond with words, I just reached out and kissed him. I shut my eyes and we both relaxed into the kiss. Not a second later, I remember everything; Hidan, Jashin, everything. I broke the kiss.
Dei looked at me with wondering eyes and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“My religion. I can’t… I just remembered… This is, how you say, against the rules… I’m sorry…”
“Oh…” He looked down sadly.
“And I probably don’t like you the same way that you like me. I don’t want to hurt you, I just blacked out for a moment and that’s what happened.”
“Okay… I kinda expected that.”
“But can we still be friends?”
“Sure.” He smiled assuringly at me.
I wiped away the remnants of tears left on my face before grabbing Deidara in a warm embrace. Sooner or later, we started talking. I learned some pretty neat stuff about him.
“So you can literally eat with your hands?” I laughed.
“Yup!”
“That’s amazing!” I chimed.
“And you’re from the Hidden Rock, like me, right?” I asked, toying with the headband around my neck.
“Uh huh.” He nodded, “Why do you ask?”
I suddenly got real serious, “Were you there when the large scale ‘Murder Fiasco’ hit?”
“Yeah, I was still in the Academy back then. Why? Are you implying that you were the murderer or something?”
I shook my head vigorously, “No! But my family was involved in it.”
“What do you mean?” He pressed.
“Half of my family was murdered right before my eyes, and I was too little to do anything about it!” I gripped my pant legs tightly. “My father was the one who put a stop to it. He killed the killer. Not on purpose, might I add.”
“That’s rough. Seeing something like that and not being affected in the slightest is pretty damn well near impossible.” Deidara said.
“I know. For months following the murder, I was going through shock trauma, then went in denial, and later spiraled into a depression. Before then, I was stronger. I could take things like this, and laugh about it. I was happier, and more connected to the world. I couldn’t concentrate on anything for too long and my grades suffered. I became distant from my friends and family. I cried often, in private. I was always sad and alone. I never got any help, either. I always refused violently when anyone asked if I wanted help…”
“How did you get over it?”
“I didn’t. I learned to accept it and to take the truth as it was. I realized that it was all in the past, and I couldn’t change it, no matter how much I wanted to. When I did, my life became almost as it was before it happened. I was still a bit paranoid, and I never regained that happiness in my life that I once had… Well, anyway, enough about me. Tell be about you!”

We talked the rest of the night, and the Murder Fiasco was all but forgotten.