“Let’s Fly as the Birds Do…” Chapter Five

4/17/01

By: Hikari

Site: http://www.geocities.com/hikari_nanase/

Notes: Music theme to chapter: “Time’s Scar” From: Chrono Cross.

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Happy tears burn like no other… They sting as they course down your dry cheeks… And yet you smile… How ironic it is… To be in pain and bliss at the same time…

If I could be this content… I would always be crying …

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“What IS this place?”

“An amusement park.”

“And we came here for… what reason?”

“Because it’s fun!”

Hiei made a face at the sound of that. A face that simply, and bluntly said: ‘I don’t DO fun.’ He actually had a choice from before. Kurama offered that they either go to a theme park- whatever that was- or take pictures at the beach. The latter sounded like something the youkai wanted to avoid. His premonitions were strong at that hour, but he still felt himself to be a poor decision maker the moment he stepped off the bus they took.

As soon as school was out, Kurama met Hiei around the curb heading home. The weekend. Two days of: A.) Sleeping in; the smaller’s personal choice. B.) Doing homework; the redhead was thankful he had none of that THIS time. Or C.) Bonding. Canceling options A and B, and the result is…

“It’s so loud here.”

His friend laughed as took another sip from his paper cup full of lemon-lime soda. “It’s SUPPOSED to be loud! Hiei, I need to take you out more often…”

Looking up, tangles and twists of tracks could be seen. Some went up and down, others twisted or even went in loops. Few of the tracks were made of wooden planks, and they creaked as the wheels of the cars would run through them. The rest of the tracks were of solid metal- they were, by far, sturdier, and therefore, could exert, as well as endure, significantly more stress.

In a split second a car would zoom by, loaded with passengers smiling and screaming their heads off. To the further right, by the bathrooms, was a tall tower. Within that tower was a peculiar looking elevator that seemingly only went up and down. That was weird. Why make an elevator if you’re just going up for a nanosecond? Humans… The fire demon would never understand them…

“Too bad mom couldn’t come…” The redhead went on, strolling nonchalantly to the ticket booth. “She loves this place. She always tells me it brings her back to those silly dates she had with her suitors…”

“Hn.”

They had stopped by the Minnamino household for a short period to pack some necessities. Kurama found his mother working in her home office, so he quickly asked for her permission to have an overnight at a hotel near the park. Shiori had no doubts in trusting her son. In fact, she smiled, waved her delicate hand – while part of her face was fastened to the receiver end of a telephone, blew a kiss, and mouthed a: ‘Have a good time…’ at Shuiichi’s little friend.

As for the hotel, they only dropped off their belongings and had the services take the bags to their room while they went ahead to the park. Kurama was in his jeans, the legs of it having several tears for easy movement, and evidently, style. The top he wore was strategically colored white to reflect the sun. In all the years he had stayed in Japan as a human, he learned a very important element about the climate… HOT summers. FREEZING winters. Regrettably, Hiei’s wardrobe consisted of: black, black, and MORE black. He practically refused to wear any other color, save for the few dark shades of blue, red, and green he had. It was almost impossible to reach a compromise with him, but being the ingenious arbitrator he was, Kurama found a way. The solution was this: a white tank, and dark blue Bermuda shorts. That wasn’t so bad, and the shorts were quite the equivalent to the pants Hiei wore from day to day…

‘Click’ and ‘Latch.’

All he could really do was blink. One moment they were at the ticket booth, the next they were inside some odd contraption, with something like a vice surrounding their heads. The vice also had a clear shield over it, possibly to protect the face. With all the shielding and strapping, yet another question came to mind. A question not so different from the last…

“And this would be?”

“Headgear, I guess… It’s so you won’t fall off…”

The other looked down as he saw his feet, among many others, dangling from their chairs.

“The visor?”

“That’s in case you throw-up…”

“THROW-UP?!” By this time Hiei reached his last inquiry. He heard the chains and the engines moving, while the chairs rattled and bumped as they moved back and forth ever so slightly- almost mocking them with anticipation. And then…

“Ku-RA-MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

“Whoooooooooooo!!!”

Their hair went flying back and whipping all around as the levitating seats twisted and turned sharply. Kurama’s red locks cut through the air and flowed with every spin. The ride had taken them through several loops- some of them inwards, others outwards. The scenery went by in quick blurs, an array of colors from red to green, black to white, and blue to yellow. A temporary tie-dye viewed directly before the eyes. Kurama glanced further ahead of the track…

“Hiei! This is the best part!”

“SCREW THAT! YOUR HAIR IS GETTING IN MY MOUTH!”

Brushing away the infinite strands whipping over his complexion and out of his headgear, blood-tinted eyes widened at seeing what his companion had meant… A quadruple three-sixty twist heading straight up, and then the foreboding free fall there after.

‘Damn… I’m being tossed into a giant blender…’

One, two three, four… All the way up, and stop. The machinery snapped into place- several rail guards locking into their proper positions. That must have been the longest second all of them had ever experienced. There was a silence, the atmosphere around all of the riders, whistling. A number of seagulls had glided by- obviously the coast wasn’t too far off. The scent of the wind was of salt and sun-warmed water. None of these great feats were to be enjoyed. Everyone was concerned over his or her pulse-rate- even the two youkai seated down front felt blood rushing through their heads. The bizarre thing was, Hiei was used to free-falls. However, looking down, he realized that the ride put more g-force on the body than he was used to. A LOT more g-force.

Then, the dreaded release.

“OH MY GOD!!!”

“SHIT!”

‘VHOOOOM!’ The only screaming they could hear was their own. All the other passengers’ voices were completely drowned out of their minds. Who cares about them, when YOU’RE the one feeling yourself flying out of your seat, and simultaneously being pushed down by your own chair? At the rate and speed they were going, their hair soared up for the last time, away from their features, allowing them to see just how far down they were going. All the same, the rushing air caused the majority of the thrill-seekers to close their eyes.

Faster and faster they plummeted. The lower they got, the more power seemed to press against their bodies. Kurama reached over for Hiei’s free hand, and raised it into the air.

Abruptly, there was a white flash and the smaller shook his head as a result of utter confusion… and the few diminutive stars he saw. The chairs began to slow, later followed by the rides end.

The restraints were raised, permitting them jump out of their seats. The redhead wobbled a bit, kind of searching for a bar for him to lean on and get reoriented. Hiei trailed after him, equally unsettled. When they finally found a handrail, Kurama almost collapsed over it, whereas the fire youkai draped his chin atop the metal.

“That… was INTENSE…” The taller spoke. “I thought my eyeballs would pop out of their sockets…”

His friend said nothing. He merely stared intently on the sweet, sweet, blessed ground.

Tapping on his bare shoulder, Kurama cocked his head to the side rather concerned. “Are you all right…? Was it too much? I thought you could take it because-“

“Kurama…” The other moaned, still not looking up.

“Hm…?”

“Are there any more rides like that?”

The redhead scratched his head. “Lots… Why?”

At long last, Hiei stood upright to face his companion. “Let’s go then…”

With shock, Kurama plainly jolted. After absorbing what his beloved had said, he relished in those words, and released an eager smile. “Sure! That’s great! But first, why don’t we look at our snapshot?”

“Snapshot?”

Pointing up, to a television hooked onto the upper corner of a wall, Kurama’s finger led to a projection of a certain couple’s faces. The worst part was that it was a full screen capture. The way they looked was comical; lips blowing up their gums, and tongues retracted into their mouths as they screamed. Hair stood upright, but in Hiei’s case, that hardly made the difference. Their eyes were nothing, but sheer slits. Their foreheads- wrinkled with a vain or two bursting from the side. From all this, Hiei gaped.

“I look… Stupid!”

“Well, I don’t think so. I think I’ll buy a copy…” The redhead let go of the rail and started straight for the photo stand. Hiei struggled to catch up to him, but found he couldn’t stop walking diagonally. He had nearly spilled into a trashcan, if he hadn’t been saved by an intervening fire hydrant. Using the hydrant for stability, he forced his stare upwards. Too late, his love was already coming back with a copy… and to his dismay… the negative.

“Give me that!” Bounding to steal the souvenir from his hand, Hiei missed terribly as Kurama somberly pulled his arm out of reach.

“I don’t THINK so.”

Again, Hiei leapt into the air. He would have moved faster if the ground didn’t seem so lopsided. Needless to say, he missed again. The redhead smirked impishly, tucking the film into his wallet, which he cunningly slipped into the rear pocket of his pants. Not able to say anything to that, the other gave a livid stare. The kind of stare that could light something combustible on fire…

“You won’t show that to anyone will you?”

His friend batted his lashes innocently. “Actually, I never thought about that… But now that you gave me the idea…”

Peering down from his triumphant beam, Kurama softened and pushed Hiei to the side. Hiei walked backwards a bit, not fully understanding that he- for the first time-permitted someone to shove him like a weakling. When that fact dawned on him, he grumbled something intelligible and wouldn’t stop piercing the asphalt with his eyes.

“I was only kidding…” The taller admitted, feeling reasonably apologetic for the ambush on Hiei’s self-esteem. “I’ll tear it if you like…”

A shrug escaped- the tone of it somewhere in between laxity and forgiveness. “Forget about it. Just don’t EVER remove it from your wallet, otherwise I’ll be forced to kill you.”

“Fine by me… Hey, do want to try the funhouse next?”

There was that word again… ‘Fun’. The first onslaught was a complete bombshell- chairs hooked to a railing that would send you through a tornado and back.

Still, the ride was… ‘Interesting’. It wasn’t at all like bounding from building to building… You had no control… You weren’t sure of where you were going… It was almost comparable to blind faith… To let yourself go, and let the wind carry you for once. A new adrenaline rush… he concluded. And he liked it…

“What’s in…” He narrowed his eyes. “…a fun house?”

“Stuff…”

Not good. Kurama was dancing around words again. The redhead loved doing that… Doing so would usually earn him a couple of disturbed faces, maybe a hint of worry, or even slight apprehension in the movements of the body. They were the kind of details that were difficult to notice. That or, the type of details only the selected few could see. Hiei’s naivety to Ningenkai was cute, but at the same time, very sad. As they walked through the door of the funhouse, Kurama noticed what could be five-percent tension in the smaller’s hidden flinching. This included the crossing of the arms over the chest… Focusing ONLY in one path… and absolutely NO blinking. Other comrades, such as Kuwabara and Yusuke, would have defined this behavior as confidence or ‘ill-will’. They may have been correct in some occasions… But on others, well, Kurama knew better.

The room they were in was dark, the floor having tiny lights as would a theatre. The walls all around them were painted black, that was, until the hall they were walking through suddenly came to a divergence. Both paths appeared shadowy, no allowance of light whatsoever… at least, not from where they were standing.

“Where do you want to go, Hiei?”

He glanced at one walkway, and then the other. Discerning into both entrances, he decided. “There’s only one way…”

Stepping forward, he touched the space heading toward the left. It wasn’t an opening. It was solid black. Knocking on it, Kurama recognized that it was a mirror. Reaching to the right, however, Hiei’s hand when straight through.

“The mirror is reflecting the darkness from this hall… So it looks like two doorways…”

Thin red eyebrows going up, the other was astonished by the cleverness in the analyzation. “How did you know…? Without touching the other entrance?”

Leaning forward, Hiei breathed on the glass. It fogged, but quickly disappeared.

“Impressive…”

“Hn.” From there, they walked on, down the obscurity into yet another room, this time filled with mirrors that reflected themselves. They were of various shapes, several more grotesque than others. A few swerved and gave the impression of a thin man being fat or a fat man being thin. One of the mirrors, Hiei noted, made him exceptionally tall. Kurama popped up from behind him, and gazed at the distorted reflection.

“You like yourself like this?”

He shook his head. “… It’s not me… So why should I care?”

“Hm…” The taller thought about that for a moment, walking casually around the array of glass in the mean time. “You know… It’s a little hard to get out of here… Some of the mirrors are placed at a distance, when you think it’s right there in your face… Or vice versa… I suppose that’s the thing about mirrors… Nothing’s real…”

“I would think… that a mirror gives part of the truth… You have to remember that you cannot make a lie without some logical base… We ARE here, correct? The looking glass shows that… The only catch is… we don’t know where we are… That’s the point…”

The fire youkai’s voice seemed to have drifted from far away. Getting out of his pensive state, Kurama looked around and found the reflection of his friend everywhere. “Point of what?” He asked, not only out of curiousness, but also as a means to trace Hiei.

His friend saw through this, and therefore, remained silent.

“Not funny, Hiei…”

In the mirrors, Hiei smirked. Feeling his own pride being dented for the day, Kurama comprehended that this test he was suddenly being put through was also a means for just revenge. Revenge against the photograph…

How to find him… He could reach out his arms and walk around like a mummy… Or think of a more rational and less stupid way… Right… Not moving, Kurama stayed at perfect poise and looked directly forward. His only wish now, was that by some fate of chance, something would give away the little demon’s location. There was the challenge… The entire room appeared exactly the same from one corner to the next.

After standing for a short two or three minutes- he got it. Searching with his hands in his pant pocket… Kurama retrieved his house keys. One of the chains, he remembered, was a pen flashlight.

Clicking on the switch, he pointed the tiny ray of light in all directions, until he found a mirror that would not reflect the light. Striding to the left, then to the right, and down a hall of even more mirrors- he found him. Meeting Hiei with only a foot between them, he turned off the flashlight, and put the keys back into his jeans.

“You cheated.” Hiei said blandly.

“Not really… I used my head…” Moving his intent look from his accomplice to the advance of the house, he remembered what he had asked before:

“So what was the point?”

The other turned and started leading the way down a ramp and into the next room. “Point of what?”

“… Not knowing where we are, and yet being there…”

The next part of the house was predictably gloomy again, and Kurama had to keep his concentration on the top of Hiei’s spiky hair to make sure he wouldn’t lose or trample over him.

After saying that, he heard a minor grunt, and then…

“I don’t know… I was just saying crap.”

Of course, he didn’t believe him on that memo. Hiei had always had those weird mood swings- or mental swings, something of that nature, that went on and off like a lighthouse. Lots of times the redhead would try and sort this attitude out. An attitude that was bitter, sadistic, and ironically poetic all at once- that was what his friend was. Endeavoring to figure out why was met with innumerable answers. So he gave up, and stayed with what there was.

The question that irked Kurama more than anything else, however, was what HE meant to the youkai. A friend? Surely that.

“Watch your step, there’s a dip after the ramp…”

A partner? Definitely.

“Lift your legs as you walk, there’s some netting close to the floor…”

Someone who loved him? Why question, he shows it doesn’t he? It wasn’t just physical- right?

“Duck your head, the doorway suddenly shrinks down…”

Why the doubt? Where did the doubt shoot from? Why now?

What was odd about this insignificant adventure was that Kurama didn’t notice it pass. He was just following directions and warnings, all the while torturing himself with his own consciousness. That was the problem with being mentally versatile, there’s always the chance of fading out from the present world and into your own little haven… The haven, on occasion, isn’t always such a wonderful place.

“We’re finished… That was dull… No challenge.”

Shaking his head, Kurama shielded his eyes from the sun. They were out. Outside and in the open.

“That was fast…”

“I know… It was fine until the end… At that point it was as if we were walking through the woods- ”

“Hiei…” The taller interrupted him there. It wasn’t sharp, but it was still a cut.

“What?”

“Do you want to eat something?”

“Depends… What is there?”

Kurama did a rapid scan of the park. Hotdogs stands by the Ferris wheel. Pizza tables were by the games. Mexican food was placed next to the freefall and near the bathrooms- for a very obvious reason. Lastly there was…

“How about cotton candy?”

“Cotton candy?” Peaking at Hiei’s reaction, he forgot his troubles and saw that his friend was desperately imagining actual cotton wrapped in plastic wrappers. The shorter looked both nauseated and disapproving.

“It’s not REAL cotton… It’s just sugar that’s as soft AS cotton…” He took him by the arm. “Common’ I’ll show you…”

The lady at the machine, which to Hiei, resembled a horizontal air conditioning fan- handed him a white cone with a fluffy pink substance on top. As an example, Kurama tore off a piece and set it on his tongue. The sugar quickly melted, but it left a lingering sweet aftertaste in his mouth.

Hiei took a piece, did as the other demonstrated, and remained inquisitively wordless.

“Did you like it?”

“Is it expensive?”

That came out of nowhere.

“No, not at all.”

“Can I have more then?”

Kurama smiled pleased. “Sure. How about a big bag?”

Going back to the stand, the lady there loaded an enormous plastic sack filled to the brim with softened sugar. Hiei gawked at it with bright eyes… bright hungry eyes… ‘Just like a kid…’ His friend thought. ‘I’m surprised he doesn’t have any cavities…’

Once the bag was tied with a green twisty string, Kurama hefted it over his shoulder- almost teasing Hiei with his vertical superiority. When time came that the demon was hinting at a sort of pouting expression, the redhead relinquished and handed the plastic to him… Two seconds flat the twisty string was removed and thrown away.

The sun was setting- a big orange in the sky disappearing in the horizon. It carried with it shades of purple and blue, night’s lovely gown. In short time, that gown would be lit with precious sparkles. At the park, not many noticed. Kurama did, though. He stopped laughing and flew off to outer space. Indulging in the sky, the events of the day phased through him little by little. First, the roller coaster- the one that nearly killed them all. Then there was the photo, where they both looked like their faces were being pressed against a glass window. The funhouse… Hiei thought it to be a bore, but it was fascinating walking through the maze of mirrors. Cotton candy. He chuckled tenderly at that. His friend finished the whole thing in one sitting. He asked for more later, but then Kurama introduced him to the ‘churro’- long sticks with sugar and cinnamon. They bought seven of those, five of which went to the smaller’s stomach. Following those snacks, they road the water raft. He chuckled again… The water raft…

‘So THAT’S how your hair looks like when it’s wet…”

‘Did you think it would ALWAYS stick up?’

‘No, but… I never knew how long it really was…’

‘Hn. Now you know.’ Hiei bent over to wring his hair. Shaking his head from side to side- almost akin to what a dog would do- his hair ‘puffed’ out and settled in the fashion it formally was in. No tangles whatsoever.

Originally, Kurama had wanted to go on the Ferris wheel. Hiei took one glance at it and instantly sighed. ‘SLOW’ was how he described it. ‘SLOW’. Instead of riding it then, they rode on the freefall twice, did several repeats of a few coasters, experienced the 3-D simulator, and had a small dinner at the hotel.

Kurama stood outside, on the balcony of their room. He had been thinking about all this ever since the walk out of the park. They had fun. He thought so anyway. By peering back on Hiei, sprawled over his bed, it could be assumed that he had a great time too.

Rubbing his shoulders, as a very chilly breeze caught him. The redhead left the veranda, and shut the sliding door soundlessly behind him. Pajamas. He was in his pajamas- warm, comfy, and smelt like home and mom. Hiei was in one of his old polo

shirts, and had sweat pants which had to be rolled up for convenience.

“Hiei…” Kurama nudged on his shoulder. No response. “Hm… Good night Hiei…”

Pacing around the twin bed, he walked to his own- separated from Hiei by a mere night table in the middle, lamp on top of that. Getting under the covers, he sat in meditation for a while, and finished with sign of the cross.

He lay back, shut off the light, then his eyes.

“…Oyasumi Nasai, Kurama…”

The whisper wasn’t heard. He already drifted into a bottomless sleep.