Chained Angel (Deidara Story) Chapter 1

Chapter 10

“Is that because of your wings?”

Deidara squeaked out a moment later, forcing away anything else and concentrating on actually talking to her, instead of sitting there staring creepily at her. But his question brought about a mixed reaction; one that he hadn’t really been expecting at all. Because instead of instantly saying yes, or even saying no; an answer to a question that seemed relatively easy in terms of talking about it, knowing at least with that, that there was no chance of offending her. But although a smile appeared on her face, Deidara sensed immediately it wasn’t the same kind of smile she had been wearing a second ago. It was a sad smile.

One that caused his own look of happiness to fall off, especially as she merely said,

“Sort of.”

Unsure what to do next, torn between pushing on with the nature of her answer and why it was merely ‘sort of’, instead of a simple yes or no, or just letting it be and trying to continue on with a normal conversation. Because he couldn’t choose between the two, he could do nothing but sit in silence, wishing he had the courage to at least say something to comfort her, even a tiny bit. But nothing came to mind that would help her without trying to get information out of her, which would only make her sadness worse. And in the end, it was Angel who spoke up first, attempting to direct the conversation away from what had been said before.

Though Deidara accepted the offer of a new conversation, the moment was not forgotten.

Not when even the circumstances surrounding her name were suspicious.

The feeling never went away throughout them talking, as she always tried to make the conversation light, with no questions aimed at her, no questions aimed at him. None of them had to reveal secrets or tell the truth. It was just light, care-free talk. The fact it brought a smile and a laugh back to her face was not something Deidara didn’t want—anything but—but he knew she was just...trying to cover it up. Somehow something inside of him told him that she wasn’t as happy as it appeared on the surface. The smiles and the laughs were real; but there was no glint of joy in her eyes, like there had been last time. It remained unseen. As much as she tried to forget about whatever was hurting her, it was still lurking in the back of her mind. To the point where she couldn’t get rid of it, even though she was trying, by focusing on spending time with Deidara.

And it hurt him as much as it did her.

An idea that seemed ever more evident with how his feelings were turning out.

Too embroiled in the conversation and the thoughts in both their heads, they didn’t notice anyone at the door until a voice called out, Bokun stepping into the room. He had the same welcoming smile he had worn when Deidara had first arrived, but it changed as Angel rapidly scrambled to her feet, bowing deeply and remaining that way for at least ten seconds, breathing in apology,

“Danna.”

Now looking at her, the expression he had been carrying a moment earlier was long gone. In its place was a stare that was finding it difficult to hide a cold hard glint that was aimed at Angel alone, creating a tension in the room that Deidara had no idea how to react to. The look in Bokun’s eyes had significance; he knew it did, but without knowing the true nature of what was going on, there was nothing he could do for the moment to stop it. But it was like time had slowed down, Deidara merely being an observer on the sidelines, watching while the action went on before him. Why Bokun was looking at her like that, he had no idea, but he had an intuitive feeling that it was somehow all connected. The smothered glare he was giving Angel didn’t disappear as he stated,

“I would like to talk to you later, if that’s not too much to ask, Angel.”

“Of course, Danna.” Angel simply whispered in return, her eyes never meeting his own, something else Deidara noted with narrowed eyes.

But the cold look in his stare passed on by as time sped back up, his gaze turning to Deidara as his expression melted into the same welcoming smile he always had plastered on his face when talking to them both. But after seeing the hidden glare towards Angel, he wasn’t so sure anymore if his ‘welcoming smile’ was as hospitable as it had appeared in the first place. It all appeared to be fake now, from what he said to when he turned up. Angel had first met them with a bow, and when told she didn’t have to, only to do it again, she looked so shocked at what she had done. If Bokun had known her that long that she was ‘like a daughter’ to him, then how did it turn out that she bowed to anyone in her company? Apologised for anything she did, even when she had no reason to?

“Has everything been okay? Your room? Food? Things to do?” Bokun then spoke up to Deidara, jolting him out of his daydream, though he was a little more guarded at the friendliness emanating from him as he spoke, replying,

“Yeah, it’s been great, un.”

Though without the usual grin on his face, Angel knew he was thinking about something, and something to do with her, and gritted her teeth, mentally cursing herself at everything that was going on. She was done for. He was noticing things. Things that were meant to stay secret. If they got out, she didn’t know what would happen to her afterwards. But saying anything with Bokun in the room was a no-no. So she stood where she was with her eyes firmly planted on the ground, staying that way as Bokun nodded and replied with a ‘you’re welcome’ to his feedback and turned to leave, the hidden glare turning once back to Angel as he said levelly,

“I’ll be seeing you later,”

A sentence that sounded more like a threat than it did a simple statement. But he didn’t get the chance to look at Bokun’s expression as he said it, and just watched as he left and walked down the corridor, leaving Angel and Deidara in an awkward silence that overwhelmed everything. Angel stood in the same spot for a few seconds, almost waiting for footsteps to disappear, before suddenly looking back to Deidara, worry creasing her face. But that wasn’t bothering him. It was the tears that seemed to be welling up in her eyes. Why, he didn’t know. But he knew for certain that he was bothered about that. Though he didn’t even get the chance to comfort her and ask what was wrong, as she immediately blurted out,

“Sorry, Deidara-sama, I—I have to go,” Picking up the tray as she said it and vanishing in the same way she always did.

Deidara stayed in position, though now alone in the silent room, unable to move because of his concern and worry about Angel, and couldn’t help but let out a massive sigh at what was going on with her. If there was a clue, or a hint, that something—or even someone—could give him that would allow him to help her; he would take it in a second. He craved to help her, and he knew for certain he could. It was like the answer was right in front of his eyes, and he couldn’t get to it, couldn’t understand it, couldn’t even see it in the first place!

The ‘Danna’ thing was definitely giving him more wood to add to the fire. It was all adding up like it was some kind of big conspiracy. It was undeniably big to him if it was concerning Angel and her general welfare. If it was concerning his emotions for her. Maybe things were worse than he thought. Maybe she was trapped. The caged bird in all of this. An angel chained down to the floor with no way of unfolding her wings.

Was Bokun the instigator in all of this?

And if so...was she in more danger than he had first thought she was?