General
This is how the rest of everyone else's day proceeded:
Itachi went on an extended breakfast date with the woman who had winked at him. She did not have any particular appreciation for guitars, but enjoyed woodwinds such as the flute or clarinet. She was in luck; Itachi also enjoyed the sound of woodwinds, even if he had only ever taken beginner's lessons in how to play them.
They had a very nice discussion which was rudely interrupted after 20 minutes or so by the most lovely voice Itachi had ever heard. His mind clouded over and he could see nothing except the most lovely human being he had never known existed. The world returned only briefly after the woman he was with hit him over the head with her bag.
As he cradled the back of his head and looked down at the pavement, Itachi felt greatly disoriented. He remembered just enough to realize this was a bad sign, and took off running in the opposite direction. With his hands still clapped over his ears, of course. He made it all the way to the aquarium, where he spent a rather nice sum of money in exchange for the shelter it provided.
He pointed out to Kisame that it was a good shelter because there were so many people, the demon could not make an attempt on any of them. Kisame got a strange look on his face after Itachi said that, and Itachi did not know why. He didn't ask.
Kisame eventually volunteered the reason anyway. Itachi was surprised, but happy. They ended up having a long discussion of morality and the relative importance of thoughts vs. behaviors. Itachi was fairly split between the two, but admitted he could come up with no argument in support of the idea that thoughts alone were capable of harming or helping.
But since thought leads to and supports action, he couldn't make up his mind in either direction. Kisame had trouble understanding how anyone could not clearly see that thoughts alone had moral value. It seemed to him very obvious. This excellent discussion was the highlight of his day; Kisame did not encounter the succubus at all, because the aquarium really was a great place to be for protection.
Yahiko felt too guilty about hoping he would never have to tell Nagato certain things to ask why Nagato was there. If he was going to be anything, he at least didn't want to be a hypocrite. So he did not ask Nagato why he was there, and enjoyed a very pleasant day undisturbed by trouble.
Well, aside from a brief commotion sometime during the morning when a female customer and a male customer drew some attention. She seemed to not want him to be so close to her, and it would have ended there if a sales associate had not then come up to ask if he was bothering her, and then other things happened.
Nagato heard something before Yahiko did and practically forced him into a chair, so Yahiko didn't get to see anything, but Nagato left and came back a few minutes later saying he'd helped diffuse the situation and everything was fine.
Yahiko felt even worse after that. Nagato was the best person he knew, his best ever friend, and still Yahiko couldn't say things to him. The fact that he couldn't figure out how to say anything to himself yet either was disregarded as being beside the point.
Nagato wondered if he was really doing Yahiko any favors by not telling him about the succubus, but when she actually showed up he did not hesitate to shove Yahiko into the nearest seat. He raced over as fast as he could (he had to; she had a bit of a temper on her, and was showing it with every second that passed where she couldn't get either the guy or the sales associate to leave her alone), and confirmed the vague feeling he'd gotten. In a way, seeing her up close actually had a silver lining for him.
He'd always wondered what being attracted to women was supposed to feel like; now he knew, and was able to be sure that he did not feel that. In fact he could be sure that he did not ever want to feel that. Nagato decided to thank her for helping him grow closer to himself later; for now, he intervened with the sales associate, shoved the man to the side, and glared at her with all of the strength and anger he could channel through the Rinnegan.
She got the hint. He felt warmth and pride in his abilities on the way back, and resolved his moral dilemma. It seemed Yahiko was perfectly safe not knowing about the succubus. He'd be fine.
Hidan was taking his responsibilities very seriously. That was why he sat with Kakuzu idly chatting about where they were going to put the money. Kakuzu suggested his own bank account. Hidan took that seriously and said sure, why not? He might want to add someone else to it in case he was injured, but they were all living together so there was really no reason why not.
The silence after he finished speaking told him that Kakuzu had been kidding, and Kakuzu threw him out of the basement. So then Hidan played with Sammy, leading him up to the large river Deidara had gotten clay from. The whole time, he was taking his responsibility to Konan seriously. Really.
Kakuzu smacked Hidan over the head later, before grudgingly admitting that the idea had grown on him. In the meantime, he monitored the group chat. Kakuzu did not send any messages of his own, but silently observed. He found it very interesting how Sasori signed off taking solace in survival, then 20 minutes later was over the moon with joy.
He was glad Sasori had decided to stay just so he could get some answers out of the redhead. The rest of Kakuzu's time was spent treating the money very nicely and debating with himself whether he wanted to tie himself to the Akatsuki by keeping their money. He did not reach a decision.
Deidara made a heck of a lot of spiders and a single bird. He and Konan mostly focused on the speed at which he could make spiders of every size and how fast he could get them where they needed to be. The bird helped with that tremendously.
Not only did it help Dei get around faster, it also made a good place to put a spider down since, Konan was amused to discover, Dei's creations could not control their own chakra to walk on water. At least the resulting splash cooled him off and soothed his skin, which was dried and heated by repeated use of explosives.
By the end of the day Deidara was freaking out quite a lot. Neither he nor Konan had thought about what they would do with the bird. Dei really didn't want to blow it up, and now that it was here he could do nothing else with it.
All his earlier anxiety about his original's techniques returned, and Konan spent the afternoon helping him stop hyperventilating. He ended up flying the bird back home and stuffing it in the garage with the antifreeze. Deidara did not get any sleep that night for fear he would somehow manage to accidentally blow the bird up in his dreams.
Konan sat on the bird running her hands over its smooth clay head. It did not have any soft clay feathers, for which Konan was ambivalent. Soft clay feathers would be very nice, but also very distracting. Petting its bare head was not distracting, and did not keep her from wondering about the important things. Jashin-sama. Her past. Yahiko.
Her past. The succubus. Her past. Whatever Hidan would come up with, the succubus, Jashin-sama, and her past. The bird was very nice to lie on, and made a good impromptu bed. Lying in a bed felt strange. Staring at the ceiling in the dark with her eyes failing to focus (how had she ever gotten through Deidara's training?) no matter how hard she tried was worse. Her heart beat fast and her breath came shallowly.
She did not fall asleep. Deidara did not have a panic attack. Itachi did not die. Samehada did not hear the full story from Hidan before it got too dark. As they all gathered for the nightly regrouping that was starting to become a little ritual, there was one question on everyone's mind.
What will we do?
Sasori
The incubus did not come back for the remainder of the working day. The boss never once let up on his suspicions, and continued to peek in every few minutes to try and catch Laurie chatting with some boy. Oddly enough, Laurie did not mind this as much as she usually would have. She wondered what made a difference.
Was it the fact that this time she wanted him to be hanging around, had deliberately chosen it? Was it fear of the incubus overshadowing any fear she had of being yelled at? Was it the knowledge that Sasori had her back, that she wasn't alone, that she had a friend? Either way, a new spring of courage had bubbled up and was not stopping. She considered signing herself up for further martial arts classes. She hadn't had the right fortitude to do well before, but this time…
Sasori came out the front door instead of the door in his workshop. He stopped at Laurie's desk, as she'd expected. Laurie couldn't help smiling. To be able to expect that…
"It's been quiet," he remarked.
"Yeah. You think the incubus will come back?" Laurie wondered. "If he really hates you, he might."
"I've been thinking of that." Sasori fidgeted with his sleeve. "Do you...want to meet the rest of the club?"
Laurie's mouth fell open. "What? I mean...you...you think so…?"
Sasori shook his head as if to ward off accusations. "I'm not sure what's possible. Like you said, I have an enemy now. I'm pretty sure he, or she, or whatever wants to kill me. That feels weird to say." He shook his head again. "I have no reason to expect that you'd be safe alone, since it can't directly attack me."
He stilled. "Oh...sorry," he apologized before she could say anything. "Do you live alone? I thought for some reason…"
"Yeah. I do," Laurie admitted. "Probably pretty obvious from how I act and everything I've said, I guess."
"I'm sorry to get you wrapped up in this." Sasori sighed. "I'm not even the one who pissed it off in the first place, that was Hidan. You shouldn't have anything to worry about."
"No!" Laurie punched him in the shoulder. "Don't worry about me unless I do, okay? I'm glad to have met you. I didn't hate being shadowed by the boss today. I might even continue my martial arts training. And some other hobbies. I feel like I can do that now." She poked him in the shoulder with her pointer finger. "That's because of you. It's been a while since I've really had someone in my corner."
Sasori was stunned. "It has?" I can be that important to someone?
"Yeah." The courage that had helped her say those things was running out. She blushed and retreated to her desk. "If there's anyone who needs punching, it's the guy who ticked off a demon in the first place."
"Hidan would be happy to let you punch him in the face if it helped you feel better," Sasori replied absently. Rusty. My kitty. "I had a cat once."
Laurie looked up at the strange tone in his voice.
"His name was Rusty, because he was red. A little darker than my hair," Sasori remembered. "He had the softest fur, and he used to lie on my clothes to make them warm. He'd sit in the chair next to me while I ate, and make these cute little mews at me to beg for human food. When I said no, he'd jump into my lap. I never finished lunch or dinner at the table while he was alive."
Laurie's eyes glistened. "How'd he die?"
"Some careless asshole with a car. He was waiting for me…" Sasori blinked a little more quickly than usual. "I didn't see it. But he always waited for me. His fur was still so soft under the tire marks."
Laurie's heart broke. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. A few tears dripped down her face to water the floor.
Sasori's eyes refocused. "I promise," he vowed as he took her hand, "you will never die because of me. I'll be around. I'll keep you safe." His hand curled around hers tight, his voice firm with promise. "For Rusty's sake. He's the first one I ever had to look after."
General
"Hey, guys. This is Laurie. My coworker." Sasori introduced the slim girl with long brown hair to the assembled group. She waved shyly and wondered which was Hidan.
"Hey!" Deidara waved back. Oh no why is she here, hm? I still don't know if I can… He glanced in the direction of the clay bird in the garage. I can't, yeah… He was getting no sleep tonight.
"Hello," Konan bowed her head at the girl. "It's good for you to be concerned, Sasori. No telling who the demon will attack out of anger."
Laurie sputtered. "Yeah, that's exactly why - yeah." Is she always paranoid, or - wait. Laurie didn't see any other women around. "Wait, are you the one who broke into his house?"
"Yes, yes I did," Konan acknowledged. "It was for the purpose of borrowing one thing, which was returned to him later that day unharmed. I'm putting some strategies in place to make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Like what?" Kakuzu raised an eyebrow.
Konan looked around. "Where's Hidan?"
Kisame scowled. "Hopefully with Same. They'd better get back soon."
"What's happening?" Laurie asked of Sasori.
"This is why I don't like huge groups," he replied. "They get off track so easily."
"Never mind that," Konan raised her voice. There was quiet. "There are spare rooms. You may stay however long you wish. In the meantime…"
She performed the introductions for Laurie. Nagato and Yahiko were introduced as a single unit. Laurie wondered why, but waved cheerfully at Yahiko, who waved back just as cheerfully. Yahiko thought she must be a good person. Maybe he could be friends with her too.
When the introductions were completed, Konan looked sternly at everyone. "There should be some systematic way of sharing information. I've noticed this group tends to get confused and split topics easily. That is not efficient."
"Let's elect someone who knows most of what's newsworthy to be in charge," Nagato suggested.
There was nodding around the room. Konan looked around. "I agree, but the obvious problem is how to figure out who knows the most."
"Have you seen the chat?" She nodded yes. "Okay. That's good. Ow." Yahiko had prodded him in the ribs painfully. Nagato rubbed his ribs and hesitantly raised a hand. "Per Yahiko's insistence, I'm also nominating myself. Apparently."
Konan would never have thought of anything else. Being in charge with Nagato was what was natural. Not this Nagato. That hurt. She said nothing and moved on to, "Very well. Has everyone here seen the chat?"
Yahiko raised his hand. "I haven't. My job gives us lockers to put our phones and things in. Why is there chatting?"
The majority of eyeballs in the room migrated to Nagato. He turned a little red and regretted his previous decision immediately. Konan's heart did a double beat. This new instance reminded her somehow of all the other things Yahiko hadn't been made privy to. Not this Nagato. The déjà vu remained, images of other times wavering in front of her eyes.
Nagato cleared his throat. "I didn't want you to worry, or for it to be weird. I thought it would be better if we had a mostly normal hangout, not, like, an emergency one." His conscience was not appeased. He cleared his throat again and went on. "I got a call from Sasori. He'd met the succubus. She was very angry, and very dangerous, and she'd left and gone into town, so he wanted to warn everyone to get with other people and be prepared."
Yahiko got very worried, as Nagato had thought. "Oh no. Wait...this morning...was that her?"
"Yes," Nagato admitted. He put a hand on Yahiko's shoulder, shook him a little. "It was fine. You'd have been fine. Surprising silver lining to this aura of hers: she can't turn it off, even if she wants. That's why there was noise, because she was in female form and some guy was following along drawing attention. No danger at all in somewhere public."
Yahiko did his best to relax. "I think I'd rather have known. So, you know, I could have called someone. What if she'd gone to the back where I was?" His best was not enough. This was the second time in as many days that he'd come too close to death for his comfort, and somehow, even though he knew that technically the first time should have been worse because he'd been much closer, somehow this time was worse instead.
Maybe it was holdover panic. That demon kid was right. Like a lamb...I'm so helpless… All I could do was depend on him and Nagato. That doesn't feel good. It really doesn't. His breath was fast and he couldn't seem to stop his hands from shaking.
Nagato swallowed. I'm an asshole. He squeezed Yahiko's shoulder and whispered, "Sorry," so softly that there was every chance Yahiko didn't hear him.
Itachi sympathized. "If it's any consolation, my choice of cover was rather poor," he consoled. "Some woman winked at me just before Sasori called, so I decided to take her up on it. I didn't even know if she was immune to the succubus' influence herself. I was fully caught in her aura, until the woman I was with hit me.
If she hadn't done that, and I hadn't managed to come to my senses in that time, I wouldn't be here." His voice slowed and became more rigid, sounding almost mechanical by the last sentence. Only now did he fully consider what could have happened.
Laurie was shocked. "Me too! The incubus… Oh, god, it was like half my brain was just...turned off…" She shivered. "I couldn't...anything…"
This calmed Yahiko down. His own troubles, he didn't quite know what was the right thing to do. But someone else's troubles, those he could be firm and confident about. "I'm sorry you two had to go through that. This means -" He only paused for a second. "This means we have to do something about it. Before she hurts anyone else."
Most of the eyes moved to him. Konan's moved in the opposite direction. That's the same voice he had then… Why was he this decisive about… She was still again, and said nothing. But that confidence brought up her worst memories.
"Like what?" Nagato managed to get out. I love him even more when he's like this…
"It's nice to hear you say that, but we do need to have some idea how to defeat a demon," Kakuzu followed. "Trivial little concerns."
"Oh, yeah," Yahiko giggled nervously. "I'm the ideas guy; Nagato handles the practical parts, usually. Or, Sasori maybe? Anything?"
Nagato looked to Konan. She was still, and he could see her looking very intently away from Yahiko. Her eyes darted around. He caught Deidara's eye. Deidara followed. "Oh, I have an idea, yeah," Dei started. Everything he remembered from during training came back. "Sasori said in the chat that she'd said some stuff about why she was mad, yeah? Was that all she said? And, wait, did Laurie say he'd shown up as an incubus?"
Sasori nodded. "Yeah. That happened later, just before I posted those emojis. It's a bit of a story."
Laurie looked at him sharply. "You said Hidan had angered it somehow, right? What'd he do?"
Sasori shook his head. "That's not what she was saying to me. What she said to me was all this other stuff, more general grievances she had about the state of the world. She was already mad. Hidan just gave her something to focus on, probably."
"He did what?" Kakuzu's fist tightened. "That little…"
"Her more general complaints," Sasori talked over him, "had to do with our world, I think. I mean, the world that our originals came from, and Konan. It's messing with the usual balance of supernatural things and how she lives and so on.
She went on a rant about 'him.' I don't know who 'him' is, but she said something about a bubble and him escaping and taking over, I think. She blames us for bringing something over with us. Or someone."
Hearing it phrased like that was somehow worse than the half-remembered word for word recounting Sasori had tried to provide in the chat. There was silence. Yahiko tried to muster his courage again. "So…" He took a deep breath and shook himself. "Okay, so, same thing kind of. Find a way to stop her and do that. And then we just need to find out what she was talking about and stop that. We can do that." He swallowed to moisten his throat. "Probably."
Konan had recovered and done her best to listen after Deidara started talking. She hadn't told him anything, but… And now, their lack of knowledge was scaring everyone. Shit. I'm going to have to. She sent a silent apology to Hidan, for speaking of what she was about to speak of.
"It's all right," she said. "The succubus was most likely speaking of something benign." She raised her hand against the response she knew she was receiving. "I'll explain what I mean in a moment."
Deidara's eyes grew wide. She's finally going to say what she saw in the note? Yes!
Konan considered only what was necessary for them to know. "Every shinobi here has the same abilities of their original. Hidan's abilities include immortality and the use of a ritual. However," she emphasized, "those abilities are not his own. Original Hidan received those powers from the god he worshipped, Jashin-sama.
If his clone in this world has the same powers, then that could only mean that Jashin-sama's influence has been extended in this world, at least that far. I have been assuming that Jashin-sama does not naturally have influence in this world, since this world seems unsuitable for his worship. Am I correct?"
Nagato and Yahiko, who both knew of the great variety of religious beliefs that existed, nodded. They would have remembered something that involved immortality.
"In that case, it makes sense that a demon would fear disruption in this world. Even if no more Jashinists appear, even if Hidan dies, who can know whether Jashin-sama's influence would return to its previous boundaries? It makes sense why she would fear that."
Konan turned to face everyone. "But," she emphasized most of all, "Jashin-sama is not himself dangerous to humans. There is no reason to panic. That is a demon's worry only. I am forced to tell you this only to prevent panic."
What the hell am I saying? Konan knew she had no logical reason to be saying what she'd just said, in the tone she'd said it in. All the information she had on the Jashinist religion, from knowing Hidan, was that Jashin-sama's rules could be interpreted to mandate sacrificing people in the most painful ways possible.
Of Jashin-sama's followers themselves, they seemed likely to be a bloodthirsty sort. In short, everything she could point to and use as evidence said Jashin-sama was a very dangerous god. And yet. And yet.
Konan's words finished echoing around the room. They had been strong, firm words, backed by the knowledge that she was correct and lacking any corrosive uncertainty. Konan herself felt no urge to shrink from her words, no desire whatsoever to disavow them. She would stand by what she'd said, because she had utter faith in it.
She had faith that Jashin-sama was more than she had seen him to be so far, was nothing so simple as an evil god. She had no reason to believe this, but she did. Konan did not believe Hidan's god was evil. He governed Hidan's every thought and effort, after all. To say that was as preposterous as saying that Hidan was evil.
It's illogical to believe that he's not. He loves performing sacrifices. That's very...dark. Was darkness evil? Did human sacrifices have any overall effect on the quality of the world? The answer should be obvious. I wouldn't even be thinking about it if I wasn't dark too. So she was biased.
Or did she have more information, information on what darkness was like that regular people did not have access to? That had to be bias speaking. Konan pushed aside these questions and returned to the point at hand. The point at hand was her belief that Jashin-sama was benign. Konan found herself unwilling to retract it, especially after it had been said. Which god am I hoping to that I'm right?
Yahiko seemed to believe her. "Oh, that's great! I'm really not in the mood to fight a god. What kind is he? What does he do?"
Dammit. "I never had any opportunity to sit down with Original Hidan for an in-depth discussion of theology, so I'm not sure. I only know what he did to worship Jashin-sama, but not what it was supposed to accomplish or why he did it." That should get them off my back. She turned back to Sasori and Laurie, indicating that this topic was over and done with. "Does that match what you recall of her complaints?"
Sasori's mouth was hanging open. "That...makes almost too much sense." He looked around. "She called us supports for some kind of attachment point. That is the only thing I can think of which makes that make sense. Woah."
"Hmph. Doesn't change much. We were already under the assumption that she was going after us because she hated Hidan and saw us with him," Kakuzu pointed out.
Deidara looked around. "Does that mean she's going after him, yeah?"
"Don't think so," Sasori replied. "Like I said, she's going after us 'supports', hoping he'll leave by himself or something." It was so much easier to remember what she'd said now that he had a conceptual framework to stick it to. "Huh. Not everything makes sense according to that theory. But, she seems to think he's untouchable for some reason. That's clear enough."
Konan chuckled. "And he said she touched him." She looked at Laurie, who seemed very confused. Well, no wonder. "We were celebrating in the bar when Hidan approached the succubus. She touched him, she screamed, he kicked her in the genitals, people started bleeding, a chair disintegrated. It's almost funny to talk about now."
"I thought he kicked her in the genitals and then she screamed." That was Sasori's view.
"That wouldn't make sense. It does not hurt that much to be kicked in the genitals, not unless one is very sensitive to pain perhaps. Or if she was already at least partially male, but why would she have been?" Konan didn't think it hurt enough for such loud screaming, at least. It had been full-on wailing that had filled the bar.
"Seriously, where is Hidan? And Same?" Kisame asked uneasily. "It's been a while. It has to be dark by now."
Konan sent out paper butterflies immediately. Laurie was wowed, but too worried to fully enjoy the sight. "He's probably okay...right?"
Nagato's heart knocked against his ribs. He almost left Yahiko's side to go and look (oh gods he'd better be), but a butterfly came back. Konan visibly relaxed. "He is well. So is Samehada."
Laurie looked around, eager to get her first glimpse of the guy who walked right up to a demon like it was nothing. And who could Samehada be? So she was very surprised when, from somewhere behind the group, a large black mass slid between people's legs and came rushing up to her feet. It proceeded to sprout a tongue and lick at her hand. Laurie almost jumped back in fright, but the licking reminded her of a pet dog she'd had once. Kisame chuckled.
"Sorry I'm late, guys. Sammy wanted to know everything, but then it got dark, but he felt so excited I just had to go on." Laurie looked up. Behind Konan stood a fairly tall guy with muscular shoulders unconcealed by any kind of shirt and medium length white hair slicked back over his head. He looked cheerful and had his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth, almost licking his lips. His pink eyes were wide open and sparkling. They went really well with the red thing peeking over his shoulder.
Laurie noticed a few strands of hair loose from the rest and hanging down near his ears. His ears looked great, too. Her mouth hung open. No wonder he got a god's favor. He deserves it. He's...he's hot. Laurie could be pretty sure he was not an incubus, because this time she was able to close her mouth and try not to gawk at him too obviously.
His eyes landed on her, and she felt some heat rise in her face. Hopefully it wasn't too obvious. His smile dropped. "Aw, shit."
Laurie blinked. What?
Konan looked sideways at him. "What is it?"
He met her eyes and sighed. Rubbing behind his right ear, he explained, "I thought of something for that thing you wanted me to think of something for, and I was planning it for tonight. But, shit, it's...kind of personal." He was obviously avoiding saying too much. "Not the sort of thing I'd want to talk about in front of...y'know...someone who's not a ninja and doesn't have any originals."
Konan's eyes widened. "Ah. That is...important." She reached up to pet him on the head. All negative feelings vanished as Hidan's eyes fluttered closed and he leaned in, purring. Konan's resolve firmed. "Well then."
She stopped petting him and looked at Nagato's chest, the closest she had ever come to looking directly at Yahiko. "That makes it all the more important that we do the smart thing and confront the demon, as soon as possible." She remembered the workweek structure as it had been explained to her. "Today is Wednesday, yes? That means two more days in which everyone would, normally, be scattered for the majority of the day. That can't happen."
Her face tightened. Deidara knew that as the look of someone preparing to go to war. "We must defeat this demon tomorrow."
Deidara raised his hand. Instead of acknowledging him, she turned to Hidan. "How is a demon defeated?" she asked.
Hidan looked at her blankly. "The obvious way…? Restrain them, hit them until their souls collapse, deal with the essence that remains." He looked up, but found nothing more to add. "Seriously, why are you even asking?"
Konan petted him instead of answering. "Because you're very kind," she whispered in his ear. Hidan probably didn't hear it in all his purring.
Laurie couldn't believe what she was seeing. Did she see? Is she trying to…? She looked around. Kakuzu rolled his eyes. Deidara smiled. Nagato stared wistfully. Yahiko looked like it was the cutest thing ever. They all looked like this wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Laurie looked back. Or maybe I'm just that much of an outsider.
Sasori yawned and nudged her arm. "We have two rooms unoccupied on this floor, or any room you like on the second. Any preferences?"
"Um...no." She turned away from Hidan and Konan and followed Sasori to the back of the hotel, where she selected the near room as her temporary sleeping space. They'd stopped somewhere to eat on the way back, correctly figuring that there would be another big meeting after today, so Sasori wished her a good night and left for his own room on the opposite side of the building.
Laurie sighed and wished she hadn't seen Hidan. It was all too clear how much of a stranger she was now. A stranger in a strange house. It was a long time before she got comfortable, and longer still before she got to sleep.
Hidan
After the wonderful, delicious petting, Konan led Hidan to her room. As she opened the door, she told him in a very serious tone that he was here only for purposes of strategizing. "In order to take down a demon in less than one full day, we will need a ridiculous amount of planning and arbitrary number of miracles," she informed him.
Hidan was pretty sure that wasn't the correct use of the word arbitrary, but felt nothing like arguing the point. He did feel like pointing out to Konan, "Can you give me a sec? I need to go talk to someone real quick."
She blinked at him in confusion before those words fully processed. "Don't take too long," she requested. Hidan took off at a sprint, racing down the hallway to the other side of the base where Sasori's room was. He didn't know yet if he felt good or bad about her reason for asking that, but she had asked and he wanted to spend time with her anyway, so he would.
Sasori was coming up from where he'd left Laurie. Hidan went up to him at a jog. Sasori kept walking, but invited Hidan to walk beside him. "What is it?" he mumbled.
"Hey," Hidan began. "Konan wants me to help her with strategy-making starting now, so I'm not available for a while. Could ya tell Laurie that I can't really have any kind of relationship now? I just don't have time, and she's not my type. I'd let her down easy myself, but…"
Sasori's pace slowed. "I...will tell her if you're still unavailable in the morning." He sped back up to normal.
"Great! Thanks puppet-boy." Hidan gave him a light smack on the shoulder, then took off running back to Konan. She was sitting on the edge of her bed like a cooling lump of molten metal, and seemed not to hear him when he came in. Hidan shut the door behind him and walked around to her side carefully.
When she did notice him, she did not startle. "Ah. There you are." She somehow managed to stand. "This town is a poor place for a battle, but…" She shrugged.
Hidan walked a little closer to her in case something happened. "You don't have to work yourself into the ground or anything," he said kindly. His eyes suddenly seemed to have a lot of trouble focusing. Hidan refused to let them close, fought the urge to sit down. "I gotcha."
Konan shook her head. "This is, memory-wise, your first battle. I should supervise. I do best as a lookout."
Hidan stifled a yawn. "Okay. That's cool. You can do that." He stamped the floor to give himself focus and stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Konan and holding her tightly in an embrace. She went slack once he had his arms fully around her as if it had given her permission. Hidan almost dropped her, but put one foot forward for balance at the last moment. His heartbeat was slowed, and he came within inches of following her off the cliff of consciousness.
He came back (just barely) when she was mostly on the ground, almost sitting with his arms holding the upper half of her body up. Hidan found that one of his arms had gotten beneath her knees (When?) and then he was standing up (How?) and he stumbled forward and laid her on the bed. After that much was accomplished, he would have to get her legs fully on the bed. It happened. Hidan didn't remember how.
Fuck...this means...I have to do it now. Can't stay here. He faceplanted into the corner of her bed, waking himself up. That helped. Thanks. He got up and made his way out into the hall, then decided it would help him think to be up on the roof.
Sweet fuck, it does! The cool night air was more effective in his nose than a line of coffee in his veins would have been. Hidan breathed deeply and broke out growling. This was hunting weather. The wind filled with scents. Warm breathing scents. Spring, leap, pounce. Hidan licked his chops, then shook his head and swallowed back his drool. It was hunting weather. More specifically, succubus season.
He went over to the corner and pretended to be the top predator, surveying his territory. Where in that territory would his prey be found? Where would she hide, where would she run? Where would the beginning of the chase be, and the end? Hidan whispered something he wasn't aware of to the god of lions, whatever god that was, and asked the wind for his cat kin's strength.
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