The Key To So Many Doors (Hidan Story)

Chapter 7.

“So you’re not gonna go with him?” Shima casually questioned in Hidan's direction, jerking her head at the spot where Kakuzu had disappeared. Hidan snorted indignantly at that suggestion, replying with a smirk,

“No way. Trust me; it’s better to stay out of it unless he says it out loud. He’s a grumpy asshole; you do something when he hasn’t asked for it and he takes it all out on you. I ain’t getting my head fucking chewed off for no apparent reason.”

Chuckling slightly at that, Shima wasn’t about to disagree. After travelling with him for this long, she could tell he wasn’t the calmest or most cheerful of people. He always appeared on edge and ready to snap at anyone who didn’t do something his way, and the idea that anything was wasting time for the mission was not one he liked to entertain. When he looked at everyone, Shima could see he just saw them as obstacles that got in his way and irritated him to no end—Hidan included. Somehow, she got the feeling they didn’t have many similarities; not to mention the possibility that they just didn’t get on in the slightest, full stop. It didn’t quite seem that way with Shima, however, prompting her to respond,

“Guess you’re stuck with me then, huh?”

But Hidan merely smirked once more with that comment, Shima seeing that glint appear in his eye all over again the moment it appeared as he shot back,

“I don’t give a fuck. It just means I don’t have to fucking do anything.”

Rolling her eyes at his attitude, guessing that although Kakuzu might not be the easiest of people to get on with, Hidan didn’t make it easier in the slightest, Shima smothered as much of her smile away as she possibly could as she stated simply,

“You are such a dick, you know that?”

Laughing fully now, Hidan brushed off the insult—if it truly was one—and simply shrugged at the idea. But having got the conversation moving, Hidan began to ask a few questions, chatting casually as they sat there. He couldn’t help but feel the more time he spent with Shima the more his earlier thought was proven right; this mission was finally picking up—it wasn’t going to be quite as bad as he had thought. A sentiment Shima could share. Although she had meant what she said—Hidan really was a dick, there was no doubting it—he was still pretty easy to get along with, and there was something that separated him from most, though she couldn’t tell what it was, but that ultimately made her feel slightly…connected to him. As if they shared an aspect to their lives that wasn’t shared with many others. It didn’t mean to say she fully understood him; anything but, knowing for certain she had never met anyone like him as he abruptly questioned,

“So…have you always been connected to the spirit world?”

That question made her halt; and to begin with, Shima wasn’t quite sure why. Immediately a bit of anger erupted inside of her—like she didn’t want him to be asking this, and that he had no right to be doing so in the first place. But at the same time she almost wanted him to ask it. It was a question no one had ever asked her before, and that fact made Shima want to answer it and tell him the truth. For once, someone was showing interest in a side of her life that usually took the back seat, and there was no sign on his face or in his eyes that it was fake. Every part of it was genuine. He really did want to know the answer to this question, and not because he was trying to insult her or call her a freak. Though she didn’t fully feel comfortable with the whole idea that he was asking it, having never been asked it before, there was still that part of her that wanted to answer it. For once she could talk about something that never came to the surface, and looking back into the expectant look on his face, Shima finally answered, a little uncertainly,

“Yeah, pretty much. It just fucking turned up as I grew up. It kinda comes from my clan. It sort of influences my headaches—you saw what it was like. Not because it hurts, but just because it fucking overwhelms my head until I can barely focus on anything else. But what about you? You’re not like everyone else; I know you aren’t. So what’s the difference?”

For a moment Hidan didn’t answer, or even show any reaction at all, still thinking over Shima’s response to his question. The idea that being connected to the spirit world and being able to have visions was part of an ability that was passed down the generations through a clan, almost like a kekkai genkai, was something that seemed unusual to Hidan. Not that he thought it was weird; if anything, it seemed awesome, but he had never imagined that it was the kind of thing that would be passed down through a family like a genetic trait. But then realizing that Shima, in turn, had asked him a question, he shook off his thoughts and focused back in on the present, abruptly blinking in surprise as it finally occurred to him what she had asked. He hadn’t had any idea that she had noticed there was something that wasn’t quite like the rest of the population, or that it was even possible to tell from the outside. It’s not as if there were any signs of his immortality on his body; his cursed form only appeared when he was doing a ritual, after all. But then, with Shima’s abilities….maybe it wasn’t so hard to tell through her eyes.

“Well…I’m a Jashinist. It’s my religion,” he stated simply to start with, tapping his pendant as a way to explain that’s what it stood for. Narrowing her eyes at the symbol, Shima searched her mind as to whether she had seen it before, eventually replying softly,

“It’s familiar, somehow, like I’ve seen it somewhere before…but I can’t quite place it. But how does it make you different?”

Hidan couldn’t hold back a smirk at that question, however, and instantly launched into an explanation of Jashinism. He spent so much time around Kakuzu; who simply told him that his rituals were long-winded and annoying, constantly telling him to abbreviate them and hurry them along and that religion in general was stupid. He didn’t want to know about anything to do with Jashinism in the slightest, and ignored Hidan for the most part if he started to mention Jashin or anything that involved Jashinism. So to have someone who was curious about it and wanted to know what happened with the religion and how it had changed him, along with the beliefs and commandments and such, Hidan was more than happy to oblige. He didn’t exactly get the chance often, so he was going to use it to the highest degree.

The more Shima heard about it, the more she felt it was familiar, knowing she had heard about it from somewhere—most likely where she had grown up, considering that was where she had learnt all about the spirit world and things to do with it. But she couldn’t remember enough to properly place it in her mind; not that it mattered now. Hidan was more than willing to tell her all about it, so all she had to do was listen in and memorise what he told her. But she couldn’t help but smile as he spoke. From what she had seen of Hidan so far, it was clear he wasn’t the most respectful of people, regardless of who they were or where they came from, when it came down to Jashin, then all of his respect was channeled there. That was what he was utterly passionate about and loved more than anything. The fact that Kakuzu relied on money and didn’t care about religion in the slightest was just one of the many reasons he hated Kakuzu.

But Shima wasn’t quite at ease with Hidan. Because of his religion—because of Jashinism—that made him different from Kakuzu, and, well, the rest of the population. He understood more and would know more of the different things she mentioned and talked about. Whereas with most other people Shima could bluff her way through and lie about a lot of things, Hidan would notice that something wasn’t right. But in the same way, she couldn’t tell him everything; or even most things. Shima knew from experience that that was never a good idea, and by the time Kakuzu came back, although she might have been sitting there chatting casually with Hidan the entire time, she knew one thing for certain:

She couldn’t trust Hidan.