Ride like the Wind
Chapter 33

"I was about three or four when I was illegally sold to some slave auction. However that works. And never mind why my parents did it. They're idiots like all rich people," Mukuro began her explanation.

"Huh? Isn't slavery already illegal? ...And you come from a rich family?! What're you doing hanging around common people like me?!" Hiei asked.

"Slavery illegal? No despite the Constitution stating that every man is created equal. One of the reasons the US is so screwed up. We can't decide if we're a country with or without slaves. And yes I'm from a rich family. I find living like I am more amusing. Anyway, I ended up with some rich family in Louisiana. I pretty much spent most of my time worrying about when my next beating would be..."

"So you were the only one?"

"I guess those people enjoyed people like me. They had five more. That's a lot, really. And there were four than weren't illegal. There were two slaves that I remember helping me through this the most. One was Mark or I think that's what his name is. I forgot. He was fifteen or fourteen when I came. The other was Mary or Big Mama. Don't ask me why they called her that... And there was the owners' nephew. I think his name was Yomi. Apparently he was supposed to be studying in America until he turned eighteen and would go to medical school in London. I wanted to beat his head with a brick and see if he gets his sanity back if he ever had it."

"God, even when you were a kid you're still a psycho bitch."

"You would say the same if you met him."

"Sure. So when'd you get freed?"

"Well, it happened a while after this new overseer came. I was fourteen when it happened. The guy took a liking to me and Mark suspected he was going to do something so he watched over me. At some point, Yomi caught on and did the same. I was too stupid at the time to realize..."

"Oh... I see..."

Flashback

"Why don't you run? You shouldn't have to take this!" Yomi argued with Big Mama one April morning. "See, the Underground Railroad…"

"I don' see no reason to. They ain't wronged us any, really. Ah ain't complainin'. Ah know some need me here," she replied.

"What about that one girl?"

"Which one?"

"That German… British… One. I think she is anyway…"

"Keep an eye on her and ne'er get her name?"

"She never talks."

"I heared her name was Mukuro. What makes you concern 'bout her?"

"You know that new guy? His name's Nicholas D. Roy. I have a feeling he wants more than work from her."

"Ah realize that. Mark telled me once. He's watchin' out fer her. If Nick D. Roy wants more'n work then them higher peoples would get mighty angry. Ah trust Mark wit' makin' sure she all right. He always do that fer her. Nice boy he's become."

"But if he has his way with her…"

"Ah know ta tell Mark an' them o'ers to go. Ah tell 'em not to run 'way. Not til Ah think the time right. Ah ain't got no real reason to go an' nei'er do they."

"Is that so?"

"Boy, ain't you got somethin' better to do?"

"Don't remind me."

"Shouldn' you be studyin'?" Mark asked as he walked to the two with Mukuro following.

"I can catch up tomorrow! Besides that, how can I study if there is injustice going on around me?!" Yomi growled holding up a clutched fist.

"Ya always say that."

"Goddamn it…" He looked at Mukuro. Then he heard his aunt call him to tell him dinner was ready. He looked in the direction the voice was coming from and started to walk that way. "Wait. Mukuro."

She twitched, expecting an order.

"Watch yourself. If that guy does anything to you then…"

Deer in the headlights look.

"Well, shit. Never mind."

---

"Ya know that Yomi guy was right. Ya know that Nick D. Roy guy's been lookin' atcha weird for some time. Don' he know Ah'll kick his sorrah ass if he do…" Mark was interrupted.

"Mark ya cain't. Ya'll be a dead man," Big Mama scolded.

"He won't. Those people'll make sure he won't," Mukuro mumbled as if to herself.

'Ah don' want ya ta get hurt or nothin'…" Mark stopped when her eyes went away.

---

"Well… This… This…. THIS IS A FUCKING LOAD OF BULL SHIT!!!" Yomi screamed into the sky. Oh shit… What if they heard me? They tell me not to curse and I just yelled it out loud for the world to hear… And then I get killed this time for sure after they told me 1, 286, 093 times not to… It has to be blamed on someone. But who…? I know! The gays! It's always the gays' faults!! "DAMN YOU HOMOSEXUALS FOR MAKING ME CURSE SO MUCH!!"

"Are you feeling okay?" Mark asked him, eyebrow raised.

"It's the… The gays. They're… I'm pissed off!"

"H… Huh?"

"Listen. I told my aunt and uncle about Nick D. Roy. They said he's staying and that I was being overly suspicious."

"Ya know they woul'. We only property to 'em."

"So what're we going to do?! We can't let that bloody bastard…"

"Ah don' know. You's the smart one. If he don' go 'way…" He sighed. "She was learned how to take punishment and ne'er how ta fight."

"Well… Bloody hell! That too is the gays' faults! Damn you for disobeying the natural order, gays!!"

---

So months had passed and the situation was nearly forgotten. Despite everything Yomi and Mark said to her, she kept working without much worry. All there was to worry about for her was if she would last another beating.

Then came that day.

It was pretty late that night. Everyone was about to fall asleep when Nick D. Roy came into the room a smirk on his face. He pointed at Mukuro.

"Hey you. I just got orders from them people. They tells me you gots an inside job to do. Nice change since you been working out all the time," he said.

Deer in the headlights look.

"All right then!" he grabbed her by the arm and started to drag her out. "Let's go."

"'Ey. Maybe Ah should come too. Ya to know get it done faster," Mark got up ready to follow them.

"Nah. Sorry. Them people say only this one. So…" He dragged her out of the room.

Mark groaned. Not a good situation…

---

Yomi yawned after a long night of studying. He stared at the book and closed it. He looked around to see if anyone was somehow secretly hiding in his room before he decided to "enjoy himself" for a couple of hours or until someone happened to interrupt his "session".

Then there was a knock on his window.

"I'M NOT DOING ANYTHING IMMORAL! IT'S THE GAYS THAT ARE DOING IMMORAL THINGS!!" Yomi gasped. He shook his head and went to the window. "Mark? What're you?"

"Mukuro's gone! She haven't come back since last night! I think that Nick D. Roy finally did it!" Mark whispered.

"He…?" He tried to restrain himself from screaming. "I thought I heard some footsteps early this morning. I thought someone was cleaning early or something… I… Shit. I think he might have dumped her in the Mississippi!"

He was right. There they saw her laying naked on her face and passed out in the shallow part of the river. Yom rolled her on her back and shook her. She stirred and opened her eyes.

"Oh praise the Lord! She's okay!" Mark cried.

"What happened?" Yomi asked her.

"I don't know…" she whispered. She looked down and saw blood in between her legs. "It's not supposed to be… It hurts…" Then she threw up blood and passed out.

"Good God!" a voice came from behind them. It was Yomi's aunt, who happened to be taking a morning stroll.

End Flashback

"I was supposedly out for three days after that. And I guess a day after his aunt found out they hanged that guy. Well, after they figured I was up to working, I left for Pennsylvania. When I was in Illinois I happened to meet Koenma. He pretty much got me back in Boston and into school,' Mukuro went on.

"Koenma? Man, that guy's just everywhere, isn't he?" Hiei replied.

"Guess so. He told me he was trying to spread happiness to everyone in the world and spread the good word of the Lord, too…"

Flashback

It was a rainy day and Mukuro was hiding under a tree. Then she heard two voices, one a man's and another was a woman's.

"I heard something moving in the bushes, Botan! I hope it's a raccoon so I could keep it!"

"Father!"

"What? I'm jealous of those furry ring tailed little bandits!"

"So? You still can't keep it!"

"Why not? I'm feed it and hug it and squeeze it and love it and play with it and take all the responsibility! So can I keep it?"

"How would it look for a priest to…?"

"I'm getting it anyway!" The man lunged into the bushes and almost pounced on Mukuro who jumped out of the way looking like he was going to shoot her. He looked disappointed. "I was hoping for a raccoon but this could do as well…?"

What was that supposed to mean?! Mukuro and the woman, Botan, both thought.

---

She was sixteen when she met her parents. She and Koenma argued for hours whether they were dead or not. Koenma always ended it with "They didn't leave you because they're dead. They had a perfectly good explanation for leaving you…"

So that day Koenma stood with Mukuro on his right side in front of a psychotic looking German man and a rather angry looking British woman.

"Uh..." Awkward silence. Koenma cleared his throat. "Mr. and Mrs.… Uh… Eikenberry…" More awkward silence. "So… Uh…" Cough. "Screw it. Here's your daughter." Confetti.

"Mukuro! I haven't seen you in years!" Mukuro's mother leapt from her seat, still looking angry even though she was overwhelmed with joy. She gave her a tight hug that nearly snapped Mukuro's ribs. She started feeling on her body like she was searching Mukuro for any hidden weapons. "You've developed so well!" she said once her hands were on her daughter's chest.

Her father started looking even more psycho. Hell, Mukuro started expecting the guy's eyes to bug out while he spoke English as if it were the hardest task in the world. "Quit feeling on her! Don't you know how uncomforting it is?" and he added in German, "Lesbian bitch."

"I understood that!" the woman turned around. "Don't say horrible things in front of her! She might understand you!"

"Good. Now she knows what you are."

"Shut up you…!"

"BOTH OF YOU JUST…!" Mukuro ran out.

Koenma shook his head. She won this round.

---

She went back to Louisiana for some reason she couldn't remember. All she knew was that she ended up killing everybody in the mansion regardless of who they were. After it was all over, she just wondered what the hell she just did…

She walked out in a bloody mess when she heard a familiar voice call her name. She turned around to see Mark. She shook her head and ran away only to be caught by Koenma in New Jersey….

End Flashback

"Goddamn! And you got into law enforcement with that on your mind?!" Hiei gasped.

"Not til Koenma saw I was done with a hundred 'Hail Mary's and a hundred 'Our Father's," Mukuro replied. "It was four years ago when I met someone named Raizen. Apparently someone made a dirty comment about him to his face so they started a fight in the bar. I ended up arresting him. There's something wrong with him…"

"What makes you say that?"

"He doesn't eat. Hasn't for seven hundred years."

"Goddamn! Why?"

"Tells me it's a diet but I don't believe him."

Flashback

"So five seconds and you're drunk again. You don't even touch the stuff. How do you do it?" Mukuro asked the demon.

"Yeah well, five and you're not!" Raizen replied, pointing a finger at her, hiccupping.

"Cause I have German blood in my veins. Germans don't get drunk."

"Mukuro, you're fun-ny!" He poked her side.

"That hurts."

"Yeah well… Stop… Spinning like that…"

Raised eyebrow. "Sure… So you never eat and you never drink. Why not?"

"Cause I don't need it!"

"Yeah and my hair's not naturally red." Sarcasm.

It looks like brown from here. "I'm on a diet."

"A diet."

"Yeah. I don't care about what those rich people ay about good meals! It's gross!"

"Doesn't mean you can't eat."

"Yeah, well, why're you always drinking?"

"My job is very stressful."

End flashback

"So yeah. Not much to say about my past. It's not as exciting as yours but it would work," she started to leave. "I'm going home."

Hiei shrugged and went after her.

"Are you following me?"

"I need a place to stay for the night."

"Sure." She looked up. "Looks like snow already…"

---

So Mukuro started off the morning by falling off her bed, crashing into three walls, tripping over nothing four times, tripping over two chairs, and cursing herself out in German for putting the damn things there in the first place.

"The lack of sleep did it to you…" Hiei said, smirking. He walked out.

Maybe it would've been better if I told him not to try anything on me… she sighed in her head. There was the sound of the door closing. Why do I feel like I'll see him again?

End chapter 33

Notes:
1. Don't argue with me over the details of slavery. I know my history, people. I'm a nerd for history. If I weren't then this wouldn't be in the 1800s.But yeah. I go into the why and how of this later on. But this was because I wanted to stay with Mukuro's past in the anime. Stupid me!
2. Underground Railroad- basically a group of people working together to help slaves escape.
3. "Father!"- No, Koenma is NOT Botan's father! It's how you refer to priests. Let's use a Trinity Blood reference for an example. Abel Nightroad is a priest… Exorcist… Whatever. He's referred to as Father Nightroad. See?

Sorry Yomi wasn't as crazy as I promised and sorry if it kinda sucked. I'm burned out right now. I was thinking about suicide before I got started typing. I have days like that. If I miss updating you're going have to figure it's because of that.

And furthermore, apologies to anyone offended by Hiei and Mukuro getting raped. Apparently I've been told people who go through it are offended when they see this but I kinda roll my eyes at that because it seems silly to be offended by that. Anyway, I thought it was a good plot device but no, guys, it's not. It's clichéd.

Anyway we'll get to Kurama again next so review.