AN: Well, it's been long enough. This second chapter didn't have
everything I wanted in the second chapter, but it was longer than the
first, so I decided to stop. It all just sort of happened, but I like the
way that it turned out. If you learn anything from this chapter, it's
that:
1. Rinku's an opportunist brat (but a cute one).
2. Jin can talk his way out of anything.
3. It's okay to trust ningens when they force themselves upon you...
sometimes.
4. If you haven't noticed, I think Zeru was probably the parental figure
for Rinku. Chuu most certainly wasn't.
5. I have a very odd sense of humor.
Enjoy!
*****
As the ningen pushed him along, Rinku wondered how long it would take for Chuu to figure out that he was gone.
Or, he thought with a sigh, if he would even figure it out. Chuu had a way of not noticing important things like that. Lord, did he wish that another teammate was still alive. They usually noticed when he was gone for long periods of time (a half hour was usually how long it took, based on when he used to hide out and watch them).
Zeru, after all, was quick to scold him when he stepped too far out of line. How he wished he could be getting a lecture right now!
Time was quickly slipping away from the reserved hour, the locker room would be filled with competitors. To save himself from more shame than being seen as the idiot brick's hostage would be, he grabbed a towel from those neatly folded in a cart before the door and tied it tightly around his waist. The ningen did the same, though it was obvious it was only too keep from looking worse than a child.
Stupid, shameless ningen. Rinku shook his head in disgust . What the ningenkai must be like... they probably ran around ass-naked unless it was too cold or somewhere where it was considered disgusting to flaunt your nudity like that (I.E.: the makai). He was never going there.... he'd probably die from embarrassment for them.*
"My things are over there," Rinku muttered, pointing to a locker in the far corner. It was the Rokuyuukai niche, the part of the locker room the team had claimed for its' own the first weekend. Despite how much the committee encouraged the 'mingling of teams' or whatever kind of bullshit they wanted to say, every team had done it.
In fact, the locker room was set up specifically to do that, as if the hotel builders had taken care to include separation no matter how optimistic the ideals were. Smart of them.
The locker room was distributed into over a dozen little grooves with protective lines of lockers. Each team, probably like all the ones before, simply claimed one. The opening where the groove met the main walkway was an unpassable barrier.
The Rokuyuukai niche was right across from the Shinobi, the supposed mercenaries from lord knew where. They were usually huddled as far back into their groove as possible while giving each other space, joking in low soft voices and muffling laughs as they always were when being carefree (for them). But no matter how carefree either team decided to be, there was constant sizing-up on both sides -as if anyone would pull anything while preparing to bathe.
But they were excited now, watching on in almost embarrassed interest that wouldn't be there if his team had.
The red-head looked very excited, Rinku noted as he pulled his clothes from his locker, and wasn't bothering to hide it. But then, the red-head always looked eager to get in on any little secret. How the hell did that guy last a day in an under-ground organization?
"Come on, hurry up," the ningen urged, putting his own clothes on awkwardly as he tired to hold Rinku by the back of the neck at the same time.
He'd taken their groove, Rinku noticed for the first time. For the love of God, he'd taken their groove! It didn't matter that the majority of them were dead, and only one had died truly honorably (Roto... well... Roto wasn't the noblest guy in a fight... he probably deserved what he'd gotten).
But it was the principle! The second he had that chance, he was going to kill that ningen for defiling their niche. The second!
Well... here without the baffoon being prepared, and especially in front of so many ningen-hating youkai, it was too easy and hardly honorable. That would haunt him later.
Okay, the second it was honorable, he was going to kill that ningen. The second!
"Don't watch me," Rinku hissed, clutching at the towel around his waist when he spied the ningen glaring down his back.
"What?"
"Don't watch me, pervert." The ningen huffed but none the less averted his eyes. With a glare to make sure he had his privacy, Rinku began to dress.
"So, what's with the ningen? Why don't you just kick him and run?" Rinku had just finished working his underwear on without leaving the barrier of the towel when he heard it. He stopped dead, terrified of who could -or would- be so close.
But the ningen didn't seem to be noticing; his head was still turned to the top of the lockers indignantly. And no one was standing next to him.
The voice had literally come out of nowhere; was he hearing things?
No, this was no time to start thinking that he was crazy.
"Who are you?" He hissed, peeking over his shoulder cautiously.
"Don't turn around! You'll get us caught!" the voice snapped, springing Rinku's head back to the front. "It's the wind Shinobi. I know ya' know me, I heard your team talking about us at the welcoming ceremony." Oh shit, Rinku gulped, they'd heard that? "Yeah, 'an ice master is very helpful at a witch burning'. That one was good. You're going to have to tell us some time how you got from our registration pictures to us burning witches. We're really interested."
Perfect, if he wasn't killed by an insane ningen, he was going to be torn apart by a mob of pissed off Shinobi. What a day.
"Anyway," the voice continued, "I heard ya' in there. I don't know why you wouldn't just leave, he's an idiot. Dunno, you outsiders*** have a weird moral code I guess. Don't wanna pull your ass from the fire or what? Where's the rest of your team, anyway? The living ones, I mean. I couldn't tell how many died besides those two (those were cool deaths...). I wasn't able to see too well from my shit seats (they always give competitors shit seats), but you know..."
Great, and to make things worse, he was getting a rescue attempt from the ranting village idiot.
With a quick look back to see that the ningen was indeed still oblivious, he set back to the task of dressing himself.
"So, how are you..."
"Speaking to you?" the Shinobi cut him off, "Simple really. Wind's carrying my voice so that it travels between you and I, but no one else. I'm that good." Rinku could just see the gloating smirk plastered upon his face, the one snaggle-tooth fang peeking out from between his lips.
"No, planning on helping me. You wanted to, right?" There wasn't anything pleading in his tone. At least, he hoped there wasn't. He didn't need it going around by wind power or whatever that he was afraid. He'd already embarrassed himself enough, hadn't he? He didn't need it going around that he was begging for help from a complete stranger, right? "That's why you're talking to me, isn't it?"
"Well... I hadn't really thought that far..." the Shinobi admitted with a nervous laugh. "I was thinking that you might have an idea... I just wanted in on the ground floor." Incorrigible... Rinku almost felt like weaseling his way out of the ningens' grasp to slap the red-head.
"You baka... !" He was cut off as the eight o' clock bell rung inside the bath and echoed through the locker room. Various forms of 'finally' rang out as, one by one, the teams filed in.
"Hey, keep it down," the Shinobi hissed. "You don't want anyone to..." Too late.
A member from the last team, team... whatever... hesitated as he passed between them. He could tell by the strong, apple-scented shampoo from the welcoming ceremony that it was Shishi-something-something. Figures, it would be a guy like that who would catch them.
"Shishi Wakamaru-sama?" someone called out that mouthful and brought what he supposed would be a snitch back to his senses.
"Yes, yes I'm coming. I just thought I heard something." He hurried after his team into the bath and closed the door. Rinku just had to see what was happening now that he knew every Shinobi had caught on for a bit.
"Ningen?" He scoffed. The idiot looked down with a sneer. "Ya gotta let go of my neck, I can't get my shirt on." With a sigh, the ningen grabbed Rinku by the wrist and shoved the shirt over his head. This gave Rinku just enough room to take a peek at the opposite niche.
The thin, black-haired one (the leader?) had made it over to the red- head, hand gripped firmly around his neck and eyes glaring daggers. The red-head was grinning back nervously, obviously too terrified to even blink. Ooo... if Rinku wasn't already in trouble, he probably would have hung back to listen to the rest. This was going to be good.
"Touya, Bakken, Gama..." he ordered, voice shaking as he tried to control obvious rage, "Head in. We'll be there in a minute."
"Yes sir, Risho-dono**," they chorused, filing into the bath while stifling whispers and snickers. The black-haired Shinobi looked over at Rinku and the ningen, eyes narrowed fiercely . Fortunately, the ningen took the hint, and they head out.
And, fortunately or unfortunately (depending who you were) the wind tunnel allowing them to speak hadn't cut off. Apparently, Rinku figured, it followed the person around.
The red-head gulped loudly as the door to the locker room shut.
"You idiot... what were you thinking? We don't need people getting suspicious of us; especially people with cults! There's too much at stake to play!"
"But Risho-do~ono... he's not suspicious! We don't have to be worried about people who care more about what they put in their hair than their fighting style."
"Heh... Jin! You're not getting out of this! What were you doing with that kid anyway? You're going to compromise the entire mission! That's our only reason..."
"I was only seeing if those two guys died or passed out! Remember how none of us could tell, and then Gama-San said..."
"I know what he said! Jin! You're not going to talk your way out of..."
"But Risho-dono... I just wanted to see if that ningen was going to get his ass beaten again! We could have had good seats this time! I mean, we wouldn't have had to make up what they were saying. Hey, remember when Touya-Kun figured that..."
"Jin... You're a pain, do you know that?"
"Does this mean I'm off the hook?"
"This means that if you behave yourself for the rest of the night, we'll see. Now head on in and shut up, all right?"
"Yes sir, Risho-dono!"
Ugh... Rinku rolled his eyes as the wind tunnel broke off in the elevator. Didn't anyone follow through anymore?
By this point he'd given up any hope in the back of his mind that a knight in shining armor would get the ningen's sweaty hand off his neck.
The ningen was looking very pleased with himself as he rode the elevator up, rocking back and forth on his heals with a grin. All the way up to the thirtieth floor...
It was going to be quite an ordeal getting back down to the fifteenth...
"Hey, ningen?"
"Yeah?" He didn't even look down, simply kept watching the growing numbers flash and ding.
"What are you planning on doing with me once you get me to your room?" The ningen let out a squeak and smashed any remaining respect Rinku had for his captor.
"You mean you didn't even plan past hauling me from the bath?" Rinku roared, squirming out of the ningen's grasp to point an accusing finger. "You idiot! What the hell were you thinking? That you could just kidnap a person {he tried to avoid referring to himself as a child as much as possible} and not think it through? What's wrong with you!"
He should have learned by now how not to put his foot in his mouth. Sadly, he hadn't and, once again, he was hauled up by the back of the neck.
"You know, you have a big mouth on you." the ningen growled, shoving his finger into Rinku's face. Yes, he did know that, thank you very much. Rinku bit his tongue to keep from blurting that out. "If I wasn't so tired right now, I would shut it for you. You're lucky I am."
It was the Rinku's turn to squeak as the ningen ripped the yo-yo's out of Rinku's hair and shoved them into his pocket. The ningen then placed the child back on the ground, nails digging into his neck.
"So, we're just going to have a good night's sleep. You got that?" Rinku nodded eagerly as the doors opened and they began the death march down the hall.
"Everyone would be out at dinner or asleep by now, so you can just shut up," the ningen hissed as he fumbled with the key and pushed the door open.
With a flick of the light switch, Rinku could see that everything was as it had been when he'd dropped in for a visit. Even the coffee cup Zeru had shattered (though moved around a bit where the black youkai had been examining it).
And, as he'd feared, it was empty.
"Now where am I going to put you... ?" The ningen thought aloud as they head across the main room. Rinku should have known, he wasn't thinking beyond the tip of his nose.
He collapsed just a little, snapping back up-right at a glare.
"Well... the closet's good enough for now." Before he knew what was happening, Rinku was shoved into bedroom closet and the door locked behind him. It only took a second to push himself to his feet, try the doorknob fruitlessly, and begin to pound on the door.
"You stupid ningen! I swear I'm going to kill you! You just can't leave me in here all night!"
"Go to sleep!" The ningen called through the door.
"I can't! I have a sleep condition for one! And with your laundry? What kind of ass hole are you, keeping me in here like a dog! Let me go let me go let me..." He didn't expect for the door to fly open. Rinku fell forward into the waiting arms of the ningen.
He was just contemplating whether or not he should give his thanks when a hand flew over his mouth and gel pills slipped inside. The ningen was trying to drug him!
Rinku began to thrash and yelp, his vision beginning to grow blurry with tears. He'd had no idea it would go this far!
"Calm down and swallow them," the ningen ordered. When it became apparent that it wasn't going to be so easy, the ningen sighed. "That's starting to taste pretty bad, isn't it?" Rinku, glared up as him with slightly swollen eyes, not wanting to admit that it was.
"Just swallow them down and I'll get you some water." Rinku, taken aback by the sudden change of attitude, slowly began to stop struggling. What was the ningen up to?
"They're sleep aids," the ningen explained. "You said you have a sleep condition." Weighing his options, Rinku audibly swallowed the pills. And the ningen let him go.
Just like that.
The child collapsed to the floor, trying to cough out the taste (and hopefully the pills) as the ningen went to fetch the water from a pitcher on the night stand.
"I have problems sleeping on the road, too," the ningen went on, offering the glass warmly. "I figured I could at least make your stay comfortable." Rinku took the glass and sipped it down suspiciously. Just cold fresh ice water and plain old decency. What was this guy up to?
"Do I still have to sleep in the closet?" He asked quickly, hoping to take advantage of the sudden generosity.
"Yup, there're no more beds. Well, unless I put you in with that masked guy, but I don't trust him so..."
Then, seeming to figure out how much time he was wasting, he hurried Rinku back into the closet and locked the door
"Well, goodnight! Try to fall asleep before the other guys get here!"
With a groan, Rinku swallowed the rest of the water and tried to make a decent bed from a pile of clothes. There was no point in fighting anymore. Stupid ningens, he thought with a yawn, nuzzling into a shirt... they were so confusing...
Within five minutes, he was fast asleep.
*****
AN: Okay, so I lied. The Hiei scene will be in the next chapter. This just seemed like a good stopping point. And the bath scene took longer than I thought it would when I moved it from notebook to computer. I apologize for any OOC-ness on the part of the Shinobi... they don't come up much so I had to improvise. I think it turned out well, though. Well... for as cheesy as it is... R&R! Constructive criticism welcome! AN continued: The next chapter will not be up until I can actually figure out how to start it. Something about the dream with M1, M2, and M3, but the wording's not right. Help, suggestions, a better opening?
* If Rinku were older, he might want to take advantage of the free porn and... other opportunities, but for now he's a good little boy. ** -Dono is term of great respect and honor; for leaders, teachers, royalty. It shows humbleness and respect on your part. *** The term a Shinobi would use for anyone who's not a Shinobi. Stupid and cheesy, I know, but it was the best I could come up with.
*****
As the ningen pushed him along, Rinku wondered how long it would take for Chuu to figure out that he was gone.
Or, he thought with a sigh, if he would even figure it out. Chuu had a way of not noticing important things like that. Lord, did he wish that another teammate was still alive. They usually noticed when he was gone for long periods of time (a half hour was usually how long it took, based on when he used to hide out and watch them).
Zeru, after all, was quick to scold him when he stepped too far out of line. How he wished he could be getting a lecture right now!
Time was quickly slipping away from the reserved hour, the locker room would be filled with competitors. To save himself from more shame than being seen as the idiot brick's hostage would be, he grabbed a towel from those neatly folded in a cart before the door and tied it tightly around his waist. The ningen did the same, though it was obvious it was only too keep from looking worse than a child.
Stupid, shameless ningen. Rinku shook his head in disgust . What the ningenkai must be like... they probably ran around ass-naked unless it was too cold or somewhere where it was considered disgusting to flaunt your nudity like that (I.E.: the makai). He was never going there.... he'd probably die from embarrassment for them.*
"My things are over there," Rinku muttered, pointing to a locker in the far corner. It was the Rokuyuukai niche, the part of the locker room the team had claimed for its' own the first weekend. Despite how much the committee encouraged the 'mingling of teams' or whatever kind of bullshit they wanted to say, every team had done it.
In fact, the locker room was set up specifically to do that, as if the hotel builders had taken care to include separation no matter how optimistic the ideals were. Smart of them.
The locker room was distributed into over a dozen little grooves with protective lines of lockers. Each team, probably like all the ones before, simply claimed one. The opening where the groove met the main walkway was an unpassable barrier.
The Rokuyuukai niche was right across from the Shinobi, the supposed mercenaries from lord knew where. They were usually huddled as far back into their groove as possible while giving each other space, joking in low soft voices and muffling laughs as they always were when being carefree (for them). But no matter how carefree either team decided to be, there was constant sizing-up on both sides -as if anyone would pull anything while preparing to bathe.
But they were excited now, watching on in almost embarrassed interest that wouldn't be there if his team had.
The red-head looked very excited, Rinku noted as he pulled his clothes from his locker, and wasn't bothering to hide it. But then, the red-head always looked eager to get in on any little secret. How the hell did that guy last a day in an under-ground organization?
"Come on, hurry up," the ningen urged, putting his own clothes on awkwardly as he tired to hold Rinku by the back of the neck at the same time.
He'd taken their groove, Rinku noticed for the first time. For the love of God, he'd taken their groove! It didn't matter that the majority of them were dead, and only one had died truly honorably (Roto... well... Roto wasn't the noblest guy in a fight... he probably deserved what he'd gotten).
But it was the principle! The second he had that chance, he was going to kill that ningen for defiling their niche. The second!
Well... here without the baffoon being prepared, and especially in front of so many ningen-hating youkai, it was too easy and hardly honorable. That would haunt him later.
Okay, the second it was honorable, he was going to kill that ningen. The second!
"Don't watch me," Rinku hissed, clutching at the towel around his waist when he spied the ningen glaring down his back.
"What?"
"Don't watch me, pervert." The ningen huffed but none the less averted his eyes. With a glare to make sure he had his privacy, Rinku began to dress.
"So, what's with the ningen? Why don't you just kick him and run?" Rinku had just finished working his underwear on without leaving the barrier of the towel when he heard it. He stopped dead, terrified of who could -or would- be so close.
But the ningen didn't seem to be noticing; his head was still turned to the top of the lockers indignantly. And no one was standing next to him.
The voice had literally come out of nowhere; was he hearing things?
No, this was no time to start thinking that he was crazy.
"Who are you?" He hissed, peeking over his shoulder cautiously.
"Don't turn around! You'll get us caught!" the voice snapped, springing Rinku's head back to the front. "It's the wind Shinobi. I know ya' know me, I heard your team talking about us at the welcoming ceremony." Oh shit, Rinku gulped, they'd heard that? "Yeah, 'an ice master is very helpful at a witch burning'. That one was good. You're going to have to tell us some time how you got from our registration pictures to us burning witches. We're really interested."
Perfect, if he wasn't killed by an insane ningen, he was going to be torn apart by a mob of pissed off Shinobi. What a day.
"Anyway," the voice continued, "I heard ya' in there. I don't know why you wouldn't just leave, he's an idiot. Dunno, you outsiders*** have a weird moral code I guess. Don't wanna pull your ass from the fire or what? Where's the rest of your team, anyway? The living ones, I mean. I couldn't tell how many died besides those two (those were cool deaths...). I wasn't able to see too well from my shit seats (they always give competitors shit seats), but you know..."
Great, and to make things worse, he was getting a rescue attempt from the ranting village idiot.
With a quick look back to see that the ningen was indeed still oblivious, he set back to the task of dressing himself.
"So, how are you..."
"Speaking to you?" the Shinobi cut him off, "Simple really. Wind's carrying my voice so that it travels between you and I, but no one else. I'm that good." Rinku could just see the gloating smirk plastered upon his face, the one snaggle-tooth fang peeking out from between his lips.
"No, planning on helping me. You wanted to, right?" There wasn't anything pleading in his tone. At least, he hoped there wasn't. He didn't need it going around by wind power or whatever that he was afraid. He'd already embarrassed himself enough, hadn't he? He didn't need it going around that he was begging for help from a complete stranger, right? "That's why you're talking to me, isn't it?"
"Well... I hadn't really thought that far..." the Shinobi admitted with a nervous laugh. "I was thinking that you might have an idea... I just wanted in on the ground floor." Incorrigible... Rinku almost felt like weaseling his way out of the ningens' grasp to slap the red-head.
"You baka... !" He was cut off as the eight o' clock bell rung inside the bath and echoed through the locker room. Various forms of 'finally' rang out as, one by one, the teams filed in.
"Hey, keep it down," the Shinobi hissed. "You don't want anyone to..." Too late.
A member from the last team, team... whatever... hesitated as he passed between them. He could tell by the strong, apple-scented shampoo from the welcoming ceremony that it was Shishi-something-something. Figures, it would be a guy like that who would catch them.
"Shishi Wakamaru-sama?" someone called out that mouthful and brought what he supposed would be a snitch back to his senses.
"Yes, yes I'm coming. I just thought I heard something." He hurried after his team into the bath and closed the door. Rinku just had to see what was happening now that he knew every Shinobi had caught on for a bit.
"Ningen?" He scoffed. The idiot looked down with a sneer. "Ya gotta let go of my neck, I can't get my shirt on." With a sigh, the ningen grabbed Rinku by the wrist and shoved the shirt over his head. This gave Rinku just enough room to take a peek at the opposite niche.
The thin, black-haired one (the leader?) had made it over to the red- head, hand gripped firmly around his neck and eyes glaring daggers. The red-head was grinning back nervously, obviously too terrified to even blink. Ooo... if Rinku wasn't already in trouble, he probably would have hung back to listen to the rest. This was going to be good.
"Touya, Bakken, Gama..." he ordered, voice shaking as he tried to control obvious rage, "Head in. We'll be there in a minute."
"Yes sir, Risho-dono**," they chorused, filing into the bath while stifling whispers and snickers. The black-haired Shinobi looked over at Rinku and the ningen, eyes narrowed fiercely . Fortunately, the ningen took the hint, and they head out.
And, fortunately or unfortunately (depending who you were) the wind tunnel allowing them to speak hadn't cut off. Apparently, Rinku figured, it followed the person around.
The red-head gulped loudly as the door to the locker room shut.
"You idiot... what were you thinking? We don't need people getting suspicious of us; especially people with cults! There's too much at stake to play!"
"But Risho-do~ono... he's not suspicious! We don't have to be worried about people who care more about what they put in their hair than their fighting style."
"Heh... Jin! You're not getting out of this! What were you doing with that kid anyway? You're going to compromise the entire mission! That's our only reason..."
"I was only seeing if those two guys died or passed out! Remember how none of us could tell, and then Gama-San said..."
"I know what he said! Jin! You're not going to talk your way out of..."
"But Risho-dono... I just wanted to see if that ningen was going to get his ass beaten again! We could have had good seats this time! I mean, we wouldn't have had to make up what they were saying. Hey, remember when Touya-Kun figured that..."
"Jin... You're a pain, do you know that?"
"Does this mean I'm off the hook?"
"This means that if you behave yourself for the rest of the night, we'll see. Now head on in and shut up, all right?"
"Yes sir, Risho-dono!"
Ugh... Rinku rolled his eyes as the wind tunnel broke off in the elevator. Didn't anyone follow through anymore?
By this point he'd given up any hope in the back of his mind that a knight in shining armor would get the ningen's sweaty hand off his neck.
The ningen was looking very pleased with himself as he rode the elevator up, rocking back and forth on his heals with a grin. All the way up to the thirtieth floor...
It was going to be quite an ordeal getting back down to the fifteenth...
"Hey, ningen?"
"Yeah?" He didn't even look down, simply kept watching the growing numbers flash and ding.
"What are you planning on doing with me once you get me to your room?" The ningen let out a squeak and smashed any remaining respect Rinku had for his captor.
"You mean you didn't even plan past hauling me from the bath?" Rinku roared, squirming out of the ningen's grasp to point an accusing finger. "You idiot! What the hell were you thinking? That you could just kidnap a person {he tried to avoid referring to himself as a child as much as possible} and not think it through? What's wrong with you!"
He should have learned by now how not to put his foot in his mouth. Sadly, he hadn't and, once again, he was hauled up by the back of the neck.
"You know, you have a big mouth on you." the ningen growled, shoving his finger into Rinku's face. Yes, he did know that, thank you very much. Rinku bit his tongue to keep from blurting that out. "If I wasn't so tired right now, I would shut it for you. You're lucky I am."
It was the Rinku's turn to squeak as the ningen ripped the yo-yo's out of Rinku's hair and shoved them into his pocket. The ningen then placed the child back on the ground, nails digging into his neck.
"So, we're just going to have a good night's sleep. You got that?" Rinku nodded eagerly as the doors opened and they began the death march down the hall.
"Everyone would be out at dinner or asleep by now, so you can just shut up," the ningen hissed as he fumbled with the key and pushed the door open.
With a flick of the light switch, Rinku could see that everything was as it had been when he'd dropped in for a visit. Even the coffee cup Zeru had shattered (though moved around a bit where the black youkai had been examining it).
And, as he'd feared, it was empty.
"Now where am I going to put you... ?" The ningen thought aloud as they head across the main room. Rinku should have known, he wasn't thinking beyond the tip of his nose.
He collapsed just a little, snapping back up-right at a glare.
"Well... the closet's good enough for now." Before he knew what was happening, Rinku was shoved into bedroom closet and the door locked behind him. It only took a second to push himself to his feet, try the doorknob fruitlessly, and begin to pound on the door.
"You stupid ningen! I swear I'm going to kill you! You just can't leave me in here all night!"
"Go to sleep!" The ningen called through the door.
"I can't! I have a sleep condition for one! And with your laundry? What kind of ass hole are you, keeping me in here like a dog! Let me go let me go let me..." He didn't expect for the door to fly open. Rinku fell forward into the waiting arms of the ningen.
He was just contemplating whether or not he should give his thanks when a hand flew over his mouth and gel pills slipped inside. The ningen was trying to drug him!
Rinku began to thrash and yelp, his vision beginning to grow blurry with tears. He'd had no idea it would go this far!
"Calm down and swallow them," the ningen ordered. When it became apparent that it wasn't going to be so easy, the ningen sighed. "That's starting to taste pretty bad, isn't it?" Rinku, glared up as him with slightly swollen eyes, not wanting to admit that it was.
"Just swallow them down and I'll get you some water." Rinku, taken aback by the sudden change of attitude, slowly began to stop struggling. What was the ningen up to?
"They're sleep aids," the ningen explained. "You said you have a sleep condition." Weighing his options, Rinku audibly swallowed the pills. And the ningen let him go.
Just like that.
The child collapsed to the floor, trying to cough out the taste (and hopefully the pills) as the ningen went to fetch the water from a pitcher on the night stand.
"I have problems sleeping on the road, too," the ningen went on, offering the glass warmly. "I figured I could at least make your stay comfortable." Rinku took the glass and sipped it down suspiciously. Just cold fresh ice water and plain old decency. What was this guy up to?
"Do I still have to sleep in the closet?" He asked quickly, hoping to take advantage of the sudden generosity.
"Yup, there're no more beds. Well, unless I put you in with that masked guy, but I don't trust him so..."
Then, seeming to figure out how much time he was wasting, he hurried Rinku back into the closet and locked the door
"Well, goodnight! Try to fall asleep before the other guys get here!"
With a groan, Rinku swallowed the rest of the water and tried to make a decent bed from a pile of clothes. There was no point in fighting anymore. Stupid ningens, he thought with a yawn, nuzzling into a shirt... they were so confusing...
Within five minutes, he was fast asleep.
*****
AN: Okay, so I lied. The Hiei scene will be in the next chapter. This just seemed like a good stopping point. And the bath scene took longer than I thought it would when I moved it from notebook to computer. I apologize for any OOC-ness on the part of the Shinobi... they don't come up much so I had to improvise. I think it turned out well, though. Well... for as cheesy as it is... R&R! Constructive criticism welcome! AN continued: The next chapter will not be up until I can actually figure out how to start it. Something about the dream with M1, M2, and M3, but the wording's not right. Help, suggestions, a better opening?
* If Rinku were older, he might want to take advantage of the free porn and... other opportunities, but for now he's a good little boy. ** -Dono is term of great respect and honor; for leaders, teachers, royalty. It shows humbleness and respect on your part. *** The term a Shinobi would use for anyone who's not a Shinobi. Stupid and cheesy, I know, but it was the best I could come up with.