Ride like the Wind
Chapter 40
"So what'd you see in Boston?" Kurama asked. "I've never seen anything outside of California or Mexico so…"
Hiei raised an eyebrow at Kurama. Shit! I just now realized that I don't even know what's in Boston! Quick! Come up with a lie! What random landmarks are there…?! "Well, lots of things! There's the Place where the Boston Tea Party was and Bunker Hill and the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty and that tower that can't sit straight and the birthplace of Kaiser Wilhelm II even though he's not even thought of nor is his country yet and…"
"Hiei. The Statue of Liberty is in New York. And I know the Eiffel Tower's in France. And that leaning tower in the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy."
"Yeah, well…"
"Forget it then."
"You think I'm doing something weird, don't you?"
"You're always doing something weird. That's jut the way you are." Kurama walked out of the room.
Hiei stared out the door in deep thought. There was something about Kurama that reminded him of Mukuro. Maybe it was just how they liked to keep things quick. Maybe it was the intelligence they seemed to have locked away. It was something…. Hiei couldn't put his finger on it. But they were almost too different at the same time.
Kurama always seemed to be calm. He was just the comforting type of guy that you would turn to to calm yourself down. It was like he was his own ray of light. Hiei found it hard to remember a time Kurama was ever really mad. There really wasn't such a time as far as he remembered. He just figured that he just laughed it off. It was always Youko who was throwing death threats at him. (Or so he thought.)
Mukuro seemed the opposite sometimes. She was always brooding about something, something Hiei could never figure out. It was just like she took everybody else around her for granted. When she did get mad (which happened once a day when Hiei was around) she would A) yell at you (most of the time in German for some unfathomable reason), B) throw death threats at you, and/or C) go completely insane. (Hiei is still trying to figure out how that works. He also noticed that when it was Yusuke or Raizen that made her snap, she just smacked them or death glared them. He liked to think he was getting the good part of the deal.)
Hiei sighed. I'm confusing myself. "I'll go see how Jin's doing…." He walked out.
---
Knock, knock, knock!
Jin didn't stop packing his things like the sound was too distant to hear. He sighed sorrowfully. He wished he didn't have to do it, but he promised himself that if things had gone bad like they were now he would go back to Ireland, regardless of the consequences.
He remembered when he first came to Mexico when he was seven. His parents were looking for a place to live since people ran them out of Ireland for being demons. They were going to America from Mexico for some reason Jin could never figure out. They ended up wandering until they reached a small town called Guerroro. His parents told him they wanted him to wait next to a shop while they got food for their trip.
It was January at the time so Jin had to wait in the cold rain and he didn't move once. He continued to wait and ignored everyone's sympathetic glances. He waited for hours which slowly became three days and there still was no sign of his parents. One that third day he met Touya who was seventeen.
"Do you speak Spanish?" Touya asked in Spanish.
Jin stared at him, not understanding.
"Do you speak English?" he asked in English this time.
He nodded.
"How long are you planning to wait out here?"
"I… I'm w-waiting f-f-for my mom and dad…" Jin shivered.
"For three days?"
"Y-y-yeah. Th-they told m-me to w-wait here s-so I d-d-did…"
He sighed. "Come on. I'm gonna get you to someone who will…"
"But what if th-they come while I'm gone? Th-they'll go to America w-without m-me…"
Jin heard someone with a silent voice grumble a curse under his breath in Spanish.
"Hiei!" Touya called the owner of the voice. When the person, nine year old Hiei, came, Touya said to him, "Get Koenma for me. I'm not getting through to this kid. Can't believe they would just…" He grumbled the rest in Chinese.
Hiei glanced at Jin then in a flash he was gone.
That was how Jin ended up at the orphanage. He didn't know how it happened but he could have sworn he heard "abandoned" once while Ruka and Koenma were talking. He had asked Hiei about it once but Hiei just said Ruka would whip them with a switch if they asked, something less intimidating now.
…And now the ones who welcomed him to Mexico were the ones shoving him out the door in his mind.
The door was kicked open but Jin still refused to turn around.
"Goddamn! Jin, what the hell're you doing that's keeping you from answering the damn door?" Hiei asked. He looked around the house. "No really. What the hell're you doing?"
"I'm going back to Ireland. I don't care if they run me out again," Jin mumbled.
"Ireland?! Why? You comin' back?!"
"No. Things are too screwed up here. Told myself I would go 'home' if it gets this messed up."
"But you can't go! This can be solved easy! I'll admit that I love Kurama to Touya and…"
"You know it won't work. I know him better than you do, oddly enough. He won't stop this grudge until another year. I can't live with that. So I'll just go away instead of trying to drink it away."
"But why Ireland? Why not something closer like America! You could go to California or Texas or New York or… Any they have to freedom of religion there so no one's gonna kick your ass for being Catholic!"
"I told you I promised myself."
"You expect to carry all your crap there?"
"I find ways. I'm not in a hurry to go but I don't want to stay. Simple as that."
"…But…"
---
Kurama came in that evening and flopped on a chair next to where Paco was plopped. Why does it always feel like killing demons is easier than working in the fields?
Hiei walked in in a daze.
"Hiei? I thought you were still sleeping," Kurama said. "Where were you?"
"Your mom," Hiei grunted at plopped on the floor.
"I dunno if you were trying to be funny or…"
"Leave me alone! I'm angsting! I can't hear myself angst if you're talking to me so piss off, you homo!"
Wow. "Homo" he says! This coming from a bisexual guy that started off this relationship. "What's wrong…?"
It's like he fills what's missing in me but… "Jin's going back to Ireland."
"What?! He is?! Why?"
"Said things were too screwed up here. I tried to get through to him but he's too hard headed to let anyone tell him otherwise. The only ones who can pull it off are Koenma and Touya Koenma isn't here and Touya's outta the question. So I'm sure he's going."
"Are you…?"
"I dunno…" Silence.
"….Hey… I just had a thought."
"Huh?"
"Remember when you said you had something to tell me? What was it?"
"Nothing. Not important anymore."
"All right… 'Night." Kurama yawned and walked to his room.
"'Night." But it wasn't sleep that was on Hiei's mind…
---
The next two days had gone by slowly. Jin was supposed to move away that day. The day before, John left to look for Touya. So this was it…
Kurama and Hiei sat at the table in silence. Kurama finally got up and started to walk to the door.
"Where're you going?' Hiei asked.
"I'm gonna talk to Jin. Just before he goes…." he answered somberly. "I'll probably take almost five or time minutes."
As he walked away from Hiei's house, he started to wonder a bit…. Why did Touya and Hiei get into a fight? Jin said Hiei did something that made Touya snap but he never said what. Was it because Touya was mad that Hiei didn't come back in June? Come to think of it, Kurama never asked why Hiei never came back when he said he would. Did he even want to know why? Something told him he didn't really want to know. A girlfriend in Massachusetts? Could it be possible?
Kurama's hand stopped at the door knob. Did Hiei admit he had a girlfriend in Massachusetts? It's pretty fishy, having a female friend that's hundreds of miles away that he visits on a regular basis. Am I just being paranoid?
He shook his head and walked in.
"Hey, Kurama," Jin mumbled as he dragged a stuffed bag of belongings towards the door, his feet also dragging.
"Jin, don't do it," Kurama said.
"I have to. Nothing'll work out if I stay. Why stay here and feel bad about it when I could just stay in Cork and be away from the problem?"
"But Hiei doesn't' want you to go…"
"It's just his wounded pride. He doesn't care that I'm leaving. He tells me I'm annoying and he means it. If it's negative, he means it. If not I'm not sure. I still haven't caught onto that one."
"But… You're the first friend I made here. Things will get better! Just don't…!"
"You wanna know why Hiei and Touya got into a fight?" Jin turned to Kurama. Kurama realized then that Jin's eyes were glazed with childish innocence. His eyes only made them look that way. He realized then that they were empty.
The word dropped from Kurama's lips. "Yeah."
"You. It was about you."
Part of him felt crushed, remembering the thought of Hiei having a girlfriend returned… "Why?"
"Touya was mad about Hiei having a girlfriend. He thinks so anyway. Hiei just told him that they were just really close but I don't think so. I think Touya might've hit the nail on the head."
The fox's face lost color. That can't be true… Could it…?
Jin stared out the window. "You know. You guys probably just think I'm always happy. I'm not. I'm still hurting inside. Twice as much now. I didn't realize it til after you came back from Japan. If I were smart, I would have left a long time ago but I wasn't so I stayed. And look what happened."
"So you'll never come back?" Kurama's eyes fell to his feet and he ran a hand through his hair slowly.
"I'll move again if things mess up there. If it gets messed up there I'll just head to America if I'm really sick of Europe. I might come back here if I mess up there too."
"Well, can't you come back on your birthday/ I'll throw you a party… I promise…"
Jin stared at him again.
"When is your birthday?"
"March." Hesitation. "March seventeenth."
"Just come then and…" His voice began to shake. "And we'll throw a party and stuff."
"Yeah. That would be great…" And Jin walked out and flew away.
Kurama walked away feeling like he was slapped in the face, his feet dragging. He started to feel the heat of tears rise in his eyes. His lip quivered. He continued to run his hands through his hair, more rapidly now.
Just as Kurama walked towards the porch, Hiei jumped to his feet not saying a word because he already knew… They stared at each other for a long moment that seemed like an eternity.
Kurama failed his resistance and burst into tears and ran to the older man, sobbing into his shoulder. Hiei held him in a sight embrace. Their lips touched once; then twice only more passionately that time. The older man rested his chin on the fox's head and stroked his back for a while as if to calm him.
Kurama rested his head on Hiei's chest and listened to his heart's silent rhythm. He felt more tears roll down his cheeks.
"All right," Hiei whispered to him. "No more of that…" He ran a finger across the fox's cheek to wipe the tear away.
"But it's not the same thing as before…" Kurama mumbled as he clutched Hiei's shirt. "This time it hurts worse… And I can find a way to ease it…"
Heart break.
---
Cork, Ireland (July 30)
Jin found himself in his "hometown" and was greeted by a distant cousin who didn't recognize him at all. It didn't surprise Jin. Not in the least bit. He knew "her" family would never know he was that same little boy that ran away with his parents. "Her" family would never have to know about what happened in Mexico. "Her" family didn't have to know that he was all alone. He was gone for eighteen years after all.
At the end of the week Jin walked to the Lee River he was familiar with and started crying… And this time there was no one left to help him…
End chapter 40
Notes
1. Bunker Hill, Eiffel Tower, Kaiser Wilhelm II- I'm pretty sure it was one place where the Revolutionary War was fought. I only know a war was fought there. Actually, I'm not even sure if the Eiffel Tower was there at this time. It was there before World War I is all I know. Kaiser Wilhelm II was the emperor of Germany during World War I. (Incidentally you know he was the grandchild of the queen of England and cousin to Tsar Nicholas, ruler of Russia, by marriage? That had to be killer fighting with your family… But that's not the point…) And Germany wasn't even thought of at this time. I mentioned this to Anna Jaganshi at one point. Germany doesn't become a country until 1871. So Mukuro's actually Prussian but German because there were German tribes.
2. Freedom of religion-Ireland has a history with religious wars. There's one part of Ireland that's all catholic and the other that's all Protestant so they bumped heads a lot.
3. No, Jin's birthday is NOT March 17. It was just an inside joke.
4. Yes Cork is a real city. It's the second largest one in Ireland. And it sucks because Ireland is having a potato famine. Jin's gonna starve! Crap! Thank me for not looking it up!
So this kinda sucked. I was up all night at this thing called the Awake a Thon. I was up watching the last five DVDs of Yu Yu Hakusho (Am I the only one in this fandom that thinks Shura sounds like the kid from the Grudge in the Japanese version?)So here's a long list of all the voice actor's and their characters that were involved in this fanfic: John Bergemeier (Kurama) Chuck Huber (Hiei), Justin Cook (Yusuke), Chris Sabat (Kuwabara and Raizen), Wendy Powell (Mukuro), Rick Robertson (Yomi), Aaron whose last name eludes me. (Shura), Laura Bailey (Keiko), Shizuru's voice actress, Jerome 57 (Hokushin and Itsuki, Sorry if the number's wrong) Justin Pate (Mitarai), uh… Shoot… I'll come back to you on that one. PS Sorry to the FUNimation people I forgot and whose names I spelled wrong. Cause I can't spell… I HATE FLAPS!
Please review.