Title: Religion and Music
Chapter 7: When I Considered Her
And so for months after that day, Tayuya came to see me once a week to play her flute. She came every Sunday, the one day we didn't have school, and played her flute for exactly five minutes, non-stop. I would sit on my bed and watch her as she stood among the piles of garbage, her eyes closed and her face peaceful. Her tiny fingers would play that instrument so delicately and beautifully; it was hard to believe that this was the same girl with a bad attitude, a foul mouth, and no friends.
There were times when she didn't just play her flute though. One cool day in late September, only a few weeks after she had come for the first time, she didn't immediately get up and leave. Once she was done with her song, she looked around my room, her face twisting unpleasantly.
"This place is full of shit," she told me. "How often do you clean it?"
I shook my head. "Never."
She snorted and put her flute away. "Typical lazyass man," she muttered. "I live in a house with seven other bastards just like you." Once her flute was away, she rolled up her sleeves and sighed. "Might as well get to work."
I cocked my head. "What are you talking about?"
Tayuya got down on her knees and threw a random ice cream wrapper into the garbage can. "What does it look like, stupid?" she asked. "We're going to clean your apartment. If we don't, you could be taken over by cockroaches or something." She threw another wrapper into the can. "And I'm pretty sure that if I'm exposed to the hellish toxic waste in here any longer, I'm going to die."
I was silent for a few seconds. "There's no toxic waste in my room."
Tayuya lifted her head and blew some of her bright pink hair out of her face. She grinned wickedly. "How would you know, fucker?" she asked smugly. "You just said that you never clean the place. Hell, for all you know, you could be breeding some mutant underneath all this trash." She snickered. "Haven't you seen all those bad American sci-fi films? This is exactly how all of them start!"
I shook my head and bent down to the floor. "As I'm sure you have noticed, I don't have a TV in here, bitch," I hissed. "I don't get the chance to watch that many things."
Tayuya smirked. "Really? Well, we'll just see about that." She crawled around on the floor, throwing random things into the garbage can. "We won't clean the entire place up today," she told me. "We'll save some of it for later. Besides, this will give me a reason to come back."
All the heat in my body rushed up to my cheeks.
So that was how our cleaning routine got started. For the next few weeks, every Sunday, Tayuya played her flute and then helped me clean my apartment. It was a nice routine. We would exchange stupid stories of crazy stuff that had happened to us in our lives, and sometimes we would get into trash fights. Tayuya would laugh like a madwoman when I threw the trash in her face, but then she would always find a way to get back at me. One time, we actually had something of a wrestling match among the trash. Jashin, that was fun as hell.
And then another time, I was in for the shock of my life.
I cleaned some crud off a ridiculously high pile of trash and noticed something strange. There was something hard and smooth underneath. Venturing further, I started to realize that something was buried underneath the garbage.
When I saw what it was, my eyes grew wide.
"HOLY SHIT!!" I screamed. "I HAVE A FUCKING TELEVISION IN HERE!!"
Early that evening, after all the trash around the TV had been cleared, Tayuya and I sat together on my bed across from it. I flipped through the channels in astonishment. Since when did I have a TV?
"Whoa, stop!" Tayuya suddenly shouted. "Go back, idiot!"
I quickly flipped back a few channels. "What?" I asked, almost frantic. "What did you see?"
"Stop!" she shouted again. I froze and looked at the TV screen. Holy crap, I was confused.
"This is one of those lame Disney movies," I told her. "Why did you want me to stop here?"
Tayuya gave me one of those "You-are-the-stupidest-person-in-the-world" looks. "Dumbass!" she cried. "Don't you know which one this is?! This is 101 Dalmatians, as in the movie with all the cute puppies. You must have seen this at least once when you were a kid, right?!"
I shook my head. Sure, I had watched some Disney films when I was little, but I hardly remembered any of them. There was only one that I could remember clearly...
Tayuya's jaw dropped. "This is the one with Cruella de Vil!" she screamed, slapping me across the cheek. "She's the one who wants to kill all those cute puppies so she can make a fur coat out of them! Idiot, she's awesome! She's the only chick around, besides myself, who takes pleasure in hurting those things!" She suddenly laughed aloud. "She's my hero, damn it!"
My heart stopped.
She liked killing puppies.
Oh...my...FUCKING...JASHIN.
I liked killing kittens.
I would have screamed my thanks to Jashin right then and there, but I didn't want to sound like an idiot. Oh, Jashin, this girl was something else. I laughed along with her, and when we settled down, we watched the movie until the credits came up on screen.
The week after watching the movie together, Tayuya stayed longer than usual, long enough to stick around for dinner. When I offered it to her, she agreed and sat down on my bed. "You going to cook?" she asked me disgustedly. "What sort of crap are you going to 'treat' me to?"
I frowned bitterly. "I'm no chef, damn it," I growled. "I have rice, pre-cooked chicken, and enough soy sauce to fill a river."
Tayuya's eyes narrowed harshly. "You're serious?" she stated. "You're going to feed me that shit? You don't have anything else to offer a lady?" She practically pounced on me when I shook my head. "You really are hopeless, aren't you? You're pathetic." She groaned and took a pen from her pocket. "Got any paper?" I nodded and handed it to her; I watched as she started writing something.
"What's this all about?"
"Here." She shoved the paper in my face. "Go buy this stuff at the food store down the street. In the meantime, I'll start cooking the rice."
"And who exactly is going to pay for all this crap? I'm poor, in case you haven't noticed."
Tayuya pulled her wallet from her pocket. "Take this if you're really that low on cash."
I almost felt bad about taking a girl's money, but I wasn't in the mood to argue, not if I was going to get some decent food out of this deal. I nodded as I put the wallet in my back pocket and threw my leather jacket on over my white t-shirt. I hated the cold; it meant I had to wear shirts every time I walked out of the house.
...Yes, that was a nice fantasy you had just now, wasn't it? Get your mind out of the gutter, pervert.
I came back to the room within fifteen minutes, and Tayuya took the food from me without a word. Immediately, she went back into the kitchen and threw everything into several different pots and pans on the sad excuse for a stove. "Give me another fifteen minutes," she ordered. "In the meantime, sit your ass down on the bed and watch."
Silently, I did as I was instructed and waited. After about ten minutes, my apartment was full of delicious smells, smells I never even knew existed. Holy crap, did they sell air fresheners in these smells?! The man who invented them would be a damn genius and a friggin' millionaire!!
Another five minutes later, Tayuya practically threw a plate and set of chopsticks in my lap. She sat on my bed next to me and started shoveling food into her mouth with absolutely NO manners whatsoever. Not like I cared though. I looked down at my plate and put some of the meat in my mouth.
Holy...SHIT.
"This is fucking delicious!" I cried, turning towards the pink-haired girl. "How did you learn to cook like this?!"
Tayuya sighed in between bites. "I had to learn how to cook," she explained. "My brothers told me that Mom would always cook for them until she died. When she passed away, Dad was too busy with the yakuza to take care of us. Kabuto, who was eleven at the time, started cooking the meals and would look after me. When I got old enough, he taught me how to cook. When he left for college, the cooking duties were up to me." She paused and snorted. "My other brothers immediately noticed that I, the only girl in the family, was taking on all the responsibilities a normal housewife would, so they dumped the rest of them on me." She tore off a piece of meat from her chopsticks. "Those fucking jackasses..."
I was silent for a moment. "Even Kimimaro?"
Tayuya whipped her head towards me. "The hell?" she questioned. "Oh, I guess you've met him after the bar incident, huh?" Her face softened when I nodded. "Well, he wasn't so bad. He helped me when he had free time, before he left for college. The ones I really hate are Sakon, Ukon, Kiddoumaru, and Jiroubo. They all suck."
Something inside told me that Tayuya was telling me more than she had ever told anyone else before. As she was explaining all this to me, she looked...vulnerable again. It wasn't as if she was going to cry or anything, but she did look as though she kind of wanted a hug. I slowly scooted towards her on the bed and rested my shoulder against hers. She looked up at me and was about to say something but held it in at the last second. Instead, she just closed her mouth and rested her head against my shoulder. I could almost feel all the sadness and pain inside her, but I didn't say anything. Words would have ruined the moment.
By the time December came along, the city was damn near cold as hell, and I froze every time I walked out of my apartment. Regardless, I hauled my ass out of bed every single morning and got ready for school, because I knew that school was the only place I could see Tayuya on the weekdays.
I pulled into the school parking lot on Saturday morning and groaned. First period was geometry. Damn it.
Silently, I made my way through the school and dragged myself to my seat in Asuma-sensei's class. When the first bell rang, my shitty teacher took attendance and stood at the blackboard. I braced myself for another boring lecture.
"Good morning," he began. "Today, we will be studying something slightly different from our usual geometry formulas. Today, I'm going to teach you about finding the area of shapes within shapes."
I froze. What?
"Let's start with something easy."
I kept my eyes on the board without moving. I tried understanding it. I REALLY did, believe it or not. I was barely pulling a passing grade out of my ass, so I needed to do relatively well on these next few tests to pass for the semester. There were only two weeks left, and then winter break would come! Oh, Jashin, why did the tough stuff have to be introduced NOW of ALL TIMES?!
Needless to say, I got nothing out of the lesson.
When the bell rang, Asuma-sensei stopped me before I could leave. "Hidan," he began, "you have to do well on this next test." He pulled out his grade book. "While it's true that your grades have improved slightly since the beginning of the year, you need to try harder. If you don't do well on this next test, you WILL fail for the semester." He closed his grade book. "I can tutor you if you want, or I can set you up with another student."
I narrowed my eyes. "Like hell," I hissed. "I'll figure it out on my own."
Asuma-sensei shook his head. "Good luck," he muttered. "You'll need it." He stood from his desk and pulled a cigarette from a nearby box. "Excuse me. I need this after dealing with you." He made his way for the door.
Once he was gone, I twisted my face and raised my middle finger towards the classroom exit. "If those sticks don't kill you," I growled, "I will."
"I heard that!"
I almost had a heart attack. DAMN HIM!!
The rest of the day passed by way too slowly. I was so fucking angry. By the time music class was over, I was practically seething, and I swear that my face was bright pink with rage. Why THE HELL did I need to know this geometry stuff anyway? I didn't want to study math in college! I figured that if I made it into college, I'd study religion. I shook my head as I walked into the bathroom. What a day...
"Saso...Sasori no...danaaaaaa..."
"JASHIN, IS THERE EVER A TIME WHEN YOU TWO SEX-STARVED ANIMALS AREN'T FUCKING?!
The art brothers looked up. "You're cranky today," Sasori murmured, rubbing his lover's back. Deidara moaned and leaned up against the redhead. Said redhead just sighed. "We weren't, for your information," he continued. "We were making out."
"OH, THAT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE!!"
Deidara frowned pathetically and narrowed his eyes. "What's wrong with you, un?" he asked. "You're in a pissier mood than usual." He let go of Sasori and walked towards me. "Is it about that girl?"
I shook my head and turned the faucet in the nearby sink on. I splashed my face twice and then washed my hands. "It's that damn Asuma-sensei," I snarled. "He taught us something today that makes no damn sense, and I have to do well or else I'm going to fail his class." I took a small washcloth from my pocket and dried my face and hands. "I will not let myself fail while that idiot Tobi does well, but I just don't get this stupid stuff. Why do I need to know it anyway?" I took the comb from my back pocket, squirted the hair gel bottle I kept in my backpack on it, and worked the substance through my hair.
Sasori sighed. "Do you want us to help?"
I bit my lip. "No," I replied quietly. "I want to try to figure it out for myself."
"Suit yourself."
"By the way, Hidan," Deidara interrupted. "Sasori no danna and I got our Jinchuuriki, un. You and Kakuzu have to go after yours as soon as I possible."
I nodded. "I'll remember that."
"And there's something else, un," he added. "Itachi has to take some time off from Akatsuki."
My head shot up. "What the hell?"
"They're Pein's orders. When he heard about the car accident a few months ago, he kept an eye on the Uchihas, un. He soon realized that Itachi was messing up the simplest of tasks, so he ordered him not to take on anymore assignments. I think that Kisame is going to take on 'Four-Tails' by himself." I paused. "I hope he's okay, un."
"Kisame is strong," I reassured the blonde. "I'm sure he can take care of himself, but I'm worried about Itachi." I finished with my hair and put the comb away. "I hope that nothing's wrong with that poor bastard."
The art brothers nodded simultaneously. "I'm sure he's fine," Sasori said. Uncharacteristically, he gave me a warm grin. "He's strong, too. I'm sure whatever is wrong is nothing serious."
I couldn't help but grin back. "Yeah, you're right." I turned, walked out of the bathroom, and brought myself out of the school. Wow, it had been quite a day.
Right when I was about to get on my bike and head for home though, I saw a familiar face from across the parking lot. He was leaning against his silver car and had a gentle smile on his face. He motioned for me to come over to him.
"Kimimaro?" I questioned as soon as I got up to him. "Jashin, it's been a while."
"Yeah, it has," the white-haired man sighed pleasantly. "How have you been?"
"Um...I'm okay." I paused. "What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for Tayuya. I'm going to bring her home."
"Oh."
"So tell me, has she been with you every Sunday for the past few months?"
My eyes widened. "What?" I gasped. "How did you know? Haven't you been away at grad school?"
Kimimaro shook his head. "I've been home," he almost whispered. "I'm sure that Tayuya told you about my health. Well, for the past few months, I've been a little sicker than usual. My professors told me to take the semester off to recover." He grinned. "I'm okay now though. I'm going to do some make-up work over the winter break and then head back to school to finish up the year."
I felt a strange tugging at my heart. Maybe Tayuya wanted to come see me every Sunday so she wouldn't have to see her sick brother. Based on what she had told me, it seemed as though Kimimaro was the only one who really cared about her that much.
"I'm sorry to hear that," I murmured.
The man smiled. "Aw, don't worry about it. I'm okay now." He looked towards the entrance of the school but didn't see Tayuya, so he looked back at me. "Can I just tell you something about my sister? She's never laughed or cried in her entire life."
My eyes widened. "What?"
"She's smiled but it's always been an evil smile," the brother explained. "She's never smiled or laughed from the bottom of her heart because she was truly happy. At the same time, she has never cried. Even when she was a baby, she wouldn't cry. Sure, she would scream whenever she needed something, but I have never seen any tears come out of her eyes." His face saddened. "Has she ever laughed or cried with you?" I remembered our trash fights but didn't bring them up out of shock. I didn't mention our movie night either. He sighed when I shook my head. "Oh well. I guess she won' t ever then. Anyway, I'm going to go look for her at the back entrance of the school, because it seems like she's not going to be coming out of this entrance any time soon."
I nodded. "Alright. I'll see you around some time then."
Kimimaro grinned. "I look forward to it." With that, he got into the driver's seat, started the car's engine, and sped off to the other side of the school. I watched in awe.
Suddenly, my cell phone rang. I was surprised that I had left it on and even more surprised that it had any power. I was such a lazyass about plugging it in. "Hello?" I asked.
"It's time," Kakuzu mumbled. "We're going after 'Two-Tails' tonight."
TO BE CONTINUED
