The Key To So Many Doors (Hidan Story)

Chapter 8.

Hidan couldn’t understand Shima at all.

Last night they’d been talking as normal as anything, asking questions about each other and learning a little bit more about each other. Just getting to know one another as people. He hadn’t exactly been expecting them to be best friends the moment afterwards, but at least be alright with each other. To be accquaintences and able to talk as they continued with the mission. It had seemed that way as they finished their conversation last night and Kakuzu came back. Sure, Kakuzu and taken him aside and warned him not to go too far with anything along the lines of asking rude questions or asking too much in general, but Hidan had brushed that aside. Clearly, from what he had been doing, Shima had been absolutely fine with it all, and as they talked here and there afterwards and then finally hit the sack, there had been no sign that Shima felt what Hidan had said had been wrong and that he shouldn’t have said it.

So why had things suddenly changed now?

The next day they’d gotten up with a general morning routine, grabbing something to eat, and after a short talk about what would be happening and a re-run over the mission in general, they had all finally set off. Their speed wasn’t as fast as it had been in the opposite direction; with what had happened in the village, they weren’t sure as to whether anyone else was after the scroll, and therefore, Shima. Ultimately it meant they would have to be more cautious and on the lookout in case anything did pop up now they knew that others could be after it as well. Sure, it lengthened the mission, everyone knew that, but Hidan didn’t give a shit; now Shima had joined, things weren’t as boring and he finally had someone he could have a conversation with instead of spending all his time with the most antisocial person in the entire world! So all in all, Hidan had set off on the journey in a pretty good mood. Things would be fine from now on.

Or at least, that’s how he’d thought they’d be.

But he and Shima’s relationship wasn’t quite as straight forward as Hidan had imagined it would be after their conversation last night. Instead it developed into something a lot stranger, and something Hidan wasn’t quite sure how to react to—how could he, when he didn’t have a fucking clue what he’d done in the first place? Yeah, she’d called him a dick last night, but that hadn’t been a full on, major insult with which Shima had been trying to offend him; it was something he’d laughed at! But today things were different, and now she wasinsulting him; and it didn’t appear quite as light-hearted as it had done before. Her facial expression wasn’t as relaxed as before, and neither was her body language. But what got to Hidan the most was that she showed none of that attitude towards Kakuzu. But the moment she turned to him and abruptly it all started up.

He ran through everything he’d said; had he actually said something he shouldn’t have, but Shima hadn’t wanted to protest considering he was the one who had gotten her for this mission? Though a moment later and Hidan had shaken that idea off. Glancing over at Shima and remembering everything he’d seen from her so far and that was completely ridiculous. When it came down to it, Shima was quite like him. She swore, she was aggressive, she didn’t give a shit what other people thought about her—that had been clear the moment she opened the door in her underwear to two strangers, not giving a damn as to who they were! No; there was no way, if Hidan had said something offensive, that Shima would have sat by and brushed it aside. She would have said something and yelled at him, in much the same way he would do if someone tried to truly insult him—like each and every time Kakuzu did.

Then what happened? Shima suddenly changed. The insults didn’t full fade, and neither did she stop rolling her eyes or scowling at his behaviour. But the big difference was that she remained talking to him, and not in a way that was to put him down or irritate him. It was in much the same way it had been yesterday—asking questions about Jashinism, his abilities and immortality, and just generally getting to know him. The moment she began, Hidan hadn’t been able to answer, not having a clue what she was doing, and even when he did, he had almost been expecting Shima to turn it around and use it as an insult. But it never came. It stayed just like it had been last night, and she continued to question him. It took a while to get used to the insults working parallel to the questioning and conversations, but Hidan dealt with it—as best he could.

He still found the mission a whole lot better to deal with now that Shima was here, even with how she was acting towards him. It became a challenge in itself to figure out what the hell was going on with her. Did she like him? Or was she just trying to keep on his good side to make this whole mission easier? With Kakuzu, it was okay to ignore him and just keep on walking down the path; like Hidan had said, he was utterly antisocial, and therefore he didn’t want anybody talking to him—Hidan had learnt that the hard way. But Shima was more like him than Kakuzu was—well, anybody was more like Hidan than Kakuzu was—and therefore she liked to talk and get into conversation with people. So even if she hated him with an absolute passion, maybe it was easier for her to talk to him in order to pass the time instead of just walking in silence.

To be honest; Hidan would prefer it, too.

But if that was the case, Hidan didn’t feel the same as Shima did. The more they walked, the more they talked, the more Hidan came to understand what Shima was like, and started to see how many similarities they had—and not just in personality. For the most part, Hidan constantly had to deal with people who considered to be religion nothing; a ridiculous notion that didn’t matter at all. But Shima wasn’t like that. As much as she seemed to be cold and distant now, she hadn’t been that way yesterday, and Hidan knew that hadn’t been a lie; it hadn’t been fake. Shima had meant every word of what she said last night, even if she had been swearing the entire time she said it.

He was starting to get to know her, though Hidan didn’t quite know whether Shima truly liked him or not; but he knew he found her interesting. He was glad he was getting to know her, and in the same way Shima didn’t seem to give a fuck that she was insulting him, rolling her eyes and scowling at every turn they did begin to get to know each other, Hidan didn’t care she was doing it in the first place. Shima had said last night that she had sensed something different about him; she knew he wasn’t like the rest of the population and therefore wanted to know more. But Hidan himself was beginning to understand that concept. He was starting to sense that something was different about Shima herself, but not in the same kind of way his difference was. Sure, she was being a bit of a bitch now, but in a way, Hidan found it funny; challenging.

He’d never dealt with a girl like Shima before, and as he talked to her and spent this time with her as they travelled, the more he began to like her. He did get on with her well, regardless of how hard she tried to act defensive towards him and tried to keep him away. Not that he was about to pay any attention to that fact. He’d never been one to pay attention to the rules, and he didn’t see any reason why that fact should change now. If anything, she was making the mission more interesting than Hidan had already thought it would be, and in that sense, he should be thanking her! He knew their relationship was a strange one, with Shima insulting him most of the time, but he wasn’t about to just back off. He’d known she was special the moment he met her—though that may have been because of other reasons as well. But Shima was giving him reason to view her in a different way than he could have viewed her otherwise, and Hidan was utterly certain now:

This mission was only going to get better and better.