Disclaimer: Alright you guys, if you think I own anything in this besides the idea, Jeff, and Toma-su, you haven't been paying attention.
Chapter 9: Silent Treatment, and Another Point of View
At 9 a.m. Jeff finds himself standing once again in front of the building that he now calls 'work'. He knows it's Sunday, but no one had really given him a schedule, so he had decided earlier to play it safe and come in anyways. At least then a little something would've come from his rude early awakening.
He walks in and sees Botan, once again, behind the desk, smiling away. He almost smiles back, before remembering that he's determined to get some answers, and she seems like his best bet from how she reacted last night at the restaurant. So, instead, he puts on a straight face, nodding at her as she says her chipper good morning.
She frowns a little when he doesn't reply, but gets out the pad to sign in all the same. She tries to start a conversation a couple times, but he keeps his lips zipped. He simply signs in before turning to the staircase and walking to it. When he's there he softly says "Botan, after work we need to talk." And then he's gone.
Botan can't help but wonder as she watches him disappear. 'What happened? I know that Yusuke, Kuwabara and I were a little conspicuous last night with our sudden departure, but certainly he can't be so upset to warrant that.'
She sighs, thinking back to last night. They had searched for Hiei and this 'Toma-su' character everywhere they could think of, but couldn't find hide nor hair of either of them. 'Poor Jeff' she thinks 'he doesn't even know that every second he gets closer to being eighteen, the closer he gets to death! Especially if this bond that he and Toma-su apparently have isn't resolved before then.' She shakes her head 'No, the situation is much more dire then that. He won't just die; he will cease to exist. That's worse then death. At least with death you have the chance to come back. I wonder how he would take the idea that what Hiei said is technically right. Those people that he was living with were not his real family. Not if what we found out last night and our suspicions are true. The poor guy, it's probably better if he didn't know until the last possible moment, I think.'
Meanwhile, the subject of Botan's thoughts is just arriving at his desk, groaning inwardly at the large pile of papers that was placed there. He sighs, deciding to try and get through today as quickly as possible so that he could get his answers just as quickly. He flips on the intercom and notifies Koenma that he has arrived. His boss gives him a quick greeting and several seconds of silence happen before his voice comes on the line again, this time sounding slightly hesitant "I say Kei, are you feeling alright? It might just be the speaker, but you sound horrible."
Jeff can't help but smile a little 'Is it that obvious I'm tired?' he thinks to himself before replying "I'm fine sir, just had a rough night of sleep, that's all."
Koenma's voice waits several seconds again before saying, "Alright, if you're sure that's all. Wouldn't want my assistant to be coming down with the flu or anything."
Jeff nods, before mentally slapping himself for it, "Yessir, I'm fine. Now if you wouldn't mind sir, I have a lot of paperwork to deal with."
The other line is silent so Jeff takes that as his cue to start working. He stamps papers for hours before boredom starts to team up with exhaustion and his eyelids get heavy. A few hours later, when Jin and Touya come for their daily appointment, they find a snoring Jeff asleep at his desk.
They look at each other, for a moment unsure of what to do. Then, as usual, an idea creeps its way into that mischievous head of Jin's. He smiles slyly and Touya, knowing the smile all to well, rolls his eyes and goes to sit in the chair he occupied yesterday. Still having that smile on his face, Jin sneaks around behind Jeff and, in his highest-pitch voice, yells, "What are ye' doin' sleepin' while you're on the clock! I 'ave a good mind to fire ye'!" sounding like a very, very Scottish Koenma.
The trick works nonetheless and Jeff jumps about five feet in the air, quickly starts to stamp again like the devil was on his heels "I'm sorry Mister Koenma! It won't ever happen again! I promise! Please don't..." He stops for a moment when he hears a nonstop chuckle behind him.
He slowly turns around to see two familiar blue eyes laughing down at him. Suddenly Jin finds himself tackled to the ground and several play blows being landed on him "You jerk! I thought I was gonna get fired! You scared the living daylights out of me!"
Jin just chuckles before catching Jeff's hand in one of his own, still smiling at him. "Oh come on Kei. What's a harmless joke between friends eh?"
Jeff mock-glares at him before getting up and going back to his desk "You still scared the crap out of me." He mutters before switching the intercom on "Mister Koenma, Touya and Jin are here to see you."
This is followed by the now familiar 'Ack!' and scurrying sounds, his boss never seemed to be ready for any of his meetings.
He gives the two his now mastered 'Just give him a minute' look before sitting down again, keeping a sharp eye on Jin as he sits down, smirking all the way. After he sits down, Jin puts his hands behind his head, deciding to start up a conversation with his new friend "So," he starts "we didn't really get a chance ta' talk yesterday. Where're ya' from? I t'ink I would remember seein' you around here before."
Jeff, deciding that this is as good a time as any to take a break, leans back in his chair, sighing a bit before saying "Well, actually, I'm from Florida. I just came to Japan a few days ago, which is when I met up with Botan and the rest."
Jin whistles "That's quite a'ways to come. Why in the name of St. Patrick would you come all that way?"
Jeff lets out a sad chuckle "I wasn't exactly given a choice. The last day I was in the States, I was coming home from school and got confronted by Hiei and this other guy named Toma-su. They pretty much knocked me out and the next thing I knew, I was here."
Jin frowns "That's stranger then a sober Irishman. Hiei might be a bit on tha' chilly side, but I can't imagine why he would resort to kidnapping anyone, especially a nice fella' like yourself."
Jeff shrugs "Well, he did. He took me away from everything I knew and loved, then has the gall later to say I should just forget about them, that I'll never see them again! No answers, no explanations, just 'hey, I kidnapped you and ripped you from everything you held dear. But don't feel bad, just automatically adapt to this new life and forget that you ever had a family!'"
Jin and Touya's eyes widen a bit at the outburst, this Kei had seemed like a pretty loose guy, neither had expected any of what he'd just said. Jeff takes a couple deep breaths and closes his eyes, calming himself down before saying "Sorry you two, you didn't deserve to hear that. It's just, things are starting to get to me, that's all."
Jin almost replies but is cut off when Koenma clears his voice through the intercom and says "Alright Kei, you may send them in now." To which Jeff nods them to the door. They get up and walk in to their daily meeting with Koenma. An hour or two later they come back out and say their good-byes, which are short, as Jeff tries desperately to catch up on his paperwork. Jin follows Touya down the hall, sending a glance back towards the busy form of his new friend, a frown on his face. Once they get down to the ground floor Touya just continues out the front, but Jin stops momentarily, considering something before calling to Touya "Go on wit'out me laddie. There's somethin' I want to find out." Touya simply waves his reply and continues on.
That taken care of, he turns and goes to the front desk, smiling at Botan as she says "Hello there Jin, I don't believe we've spoken much lately, what's on your mind?"
Jin shrugs "I jus' found out somethin' and wanted to try and see if I could help a poor lad out. You're still friends with that Hiei bloke right?" He notices that Botan seems to stiffen before nodding, and he raises an eyebrow at it 'Aye, seems this is a bit bigger then the ol' bloke made it sound.' "Well lassie, then maybe you can help an ol' wind demon out. What can you tell me 'bout his wantin's wit' that new lad upstairs workin' Koenma's load?"
Botan gulps, but knows from the look in Jin's eyes, one that she's seen to often in Yusuke's, that she wasn't going to get away anytime soon "Alright I'll tell you, but you have to keep quiet about it, at least until he finds out." Jin nods and Botan starts to relate the sad reality of what Jeff's life is probably going to be forced to be like in the near future.
