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Hello Jono

Summary:

Side fic to Knight's Lament. While Xander and the pack are in Japan Rinku goes to Sunnydale to explore the Hellmouth...and finds something worth staying for. Rinku/Jonathan

Work Text:

Hello Jono Small photo HelloJonosmall_zps11d957e5.jpg

Hello Jono
calikocat

Word count:  1,742

XXX

    “Not bad for a bunch of human kids.”

    Yusuke snorted and glared at the visitors, he hadn't expected Chu or Jin to show up at Genkai's that weekend.  “You should see them hunt.  Genkai told them they had to get their own food one weekend.  They came back with two dead deer.”

    “What did they use to bring them down?”

    “Bare hands.”

    Jin blinked and whistled.  “No weapons at all?”

    Yusuke grinned.  “They're not ordinary kids.”

    Chu smirked.  “Interesting bunch.”

    Yusuke nodded, looked at the two of them again and asked.  “Hey, where's Rinku?”

    “Don't know.  Said he wanted to explore the human realm.  Meeting your brother a few months ago made him curious.”

    “Should I worry?”

    “Nah, he'll be fine.”

xxx

    Jonathan was running.  He knew better, he so knew better than this.  He had no idea what he'd been thinking, going out this late without a cross or his dog.  Getting sloppy in Sunnydale, even during summer vacation, could get you killed.  But things had been so slow.  He'd been keeping an eye on the paper, there had been no gang attacks since finals week.

    It was just his luck that the 'crazies on PCP,' aka vampires, would decide to come out and play the night he decided to take a freaking walk!  He figured he was pretty much doomed.  His house was several blocks away, Andrew lived on the other side of town, and Amy who lived a few blocks from him, wasn't even in town this week.  She was with her dad in LA for some sort of mini vacation.  Couldn't blame her really, she'd been out of sorts since the coma.  And of course the class protectors were all out of the freaking country.

    This sucked...but he wasn't quite ready to die.  His mom wasn't doing too well health-wise...and who would take care of his dog Buddy?  Sure he was the gentlest Rottweiler around but he tended to pull hard on his leash and there was no way his mom would be able to walk him.

    So he kept running.

xxx

    The Hellmouth was boring.  Xander and his friends had seemed so cool, different from Yusuke and Kuwabara, and he thought it would be fun to see what the Hellmouth was like.  Xander, Kyle, and Tor had seemed almost demon-like.  He thought maybe the Hellmouth would be a good place where he could blend in.  Be just another teen.

    Guess he should have chosen to walk around during the day.  This late, most humans were safe in their homes.  Maybe he should have just hung out with Xander back in Tokyo.

    The rapid sound of shoes on pavement gained his attention, and he looked over across the street to see a boy, a teenager about his age...though much shorter.  He was even shorter than Buffy, running from some vampires, and in his direction.

    The boy saw him and yelled; “Run!”  Rinku poked at the translator in his ear that Xander had let him borrow, and watched the boy with curiosity as he tried to grab Rinku's arm and pull him along.  “Come on!”

    The vampires though...had stopped running.  In fact they were watching Rinku warily and he smirked.  There were only three of them, and they looked tired from chasing the boy.  The leader pointed at their intended victim.  “We saw him first, kid made us work up an appetite.  There's not enough of him to split four ways.”

    Rinku rolled his eyes...the boy, thinking things were about to go badly for him, had let go and took a step away.  “I don't eat humans.  I never have.  Besides that, my King forbids any of our kind from harming humans.”

    “King?”

    “I'm from the Makai genius.”  He whipped three of his yoyos out and used the strings as garrotes, gave all three a tug and decapitated the vampires.  Their dust fell to the ground in three neat piles.  “You okay?”

    “Uh...yeah...who are you?”

    “Rinku.  You have a name?”

    “Jonathan.”

    “I'll walk you home.”

    “I'm not sure...”

    “Hey, like I said I don't eat people.  Not all demons are bad, ya know.”  Rinku smiled.  “You know a guy named Xander?”

    Jonathan nodded.  “Yeah.”

    “Then we have a mutual friend...sort of.  I'm actually one of his older brother's friends, but I know Xander.”

    “I go to school with Xander.”

    “See, we already have something to talk about.”

    Jonathan raised a brow at him but shrugged.  “I guess.  I live this way.”  Rinku put his yoyos away and offered Jonathan his arm.  “Do I look like a girl?”

    “Nope.”

    Jonathan hesitated, but did link his arm with Rinku's.  “So you're not human?”

    “Nope.”

    “And you're just going to walk me home?  What do you get out of it?”

    Rinku grinned at him.  “I'll get to see you again.”

    Jonathan frowned...he didn't really have a response to that.

xxx

    “Easy, Buddy.”  Jonathan smiled as the large dog stood still just long enough to let him hook the leash on his collar.  “Okay, let’s go.”  He opened the front door and Buddy pulled him forward, until a figure jumped down from one of the trees in the front yard.  “Holy crap!”  He jumped back and glared a bit at Rinku.  “Why were you in the tree!?”

    Buddy wagged his stumpy tail and barked happily...traitor.

    “Where else was I supposed to sleep?”  

    “A hotel maybe?  Motel?”

    Rinku shrugged.  “I don't have any human money.”

    “So you slept in a tree?”

    “Yeah.”  There was a growling noise and Rinku blushed.  “I haven't had a chance to find food yet.  There any good hunting spots around here?”

    Jonathan stared at the other boy...hunting spots?  “I have no idea...look...I kind of owe you for last night...so I can buy you breakfast?”

    “You sure?”

    “Yeah.”

    Rinku gave Buddy's head a pat and then sidled up to Jonathan and offered his arm like he had the night before.  “So what's popular with humans?”

    Jonathan wondered if he was going to regret this.

xxx

    Jonathan was exhausted.  He'd never met anyone with so much energy...even Buddy was starting to lag and he was always up for long walks and playing in the park.

    They'd gone for a short walk first, as Buddy really needed to go.  Then they'd gone to a bakery where Rinku and Buddy had to wait outside as there was a ‘no pets’ sign in the shop window.  Inside he'd bought a variety of doughnuts as he had absolutely no idea what Rinku would like.  Luckily there was a bit of an outdoor patio at the bakery and they were able to eat their breakfast at one of the picnic tables, with Buddy's leash safely secured to one of the legs.

    It had been interesting watching someone eat doughnuts for the first time.  The wonder and absolute joy on Rinku's face made him smile, and made the awkward moments worth it.  The awkward moments...if he didn't know better he'd think Rinku was flirting with him.

    After the doughnuts were gone, Rinku had fed two to Buddy before Jonathan could stop him, they took another walk.  They wandered around town; basically he gave Rinku a tour of Sunnydale.  It was unusual for him to spend so much time with a single person.

    As they walked Rinku told him about growing up in a realm called the Makai, a demon realm.  And about the Dark Tournament, and how there was peace between the realms now, and how odd Sunnydale felt.  When he asked Rinku what that meant Rinku had given him a shocked look...and then told him about the Hellmouth...which was terrifying...and explained so much.

    Then Jonathan told him about how he never knew his dad, he'd disappeared before Jonathan had been born.  He told Rinku about his worries, about his mother's bad health, how he was worried about his friend Amy, just whatever crossed his mind.

    By the time they were ready for lunch he had opted going to hotdog on a stick, which Buddy was all for, and Rinku decided that he liked the doughnuts better than the hotdogs.  However he ate three of them, Buddy only got one, and Jonathan could only eat two.

    They walked again, this time back to Jonathan's home.  When he opened the front door Buddy went straight to his dog bed and collapsed with a yawn.  He smiled and looked back to Rinku.  “Want to hang out a while longer?”

    “Are you sure?  You look tired?”

    “And if I say goodbye for now and take a nap...you're just going to hang out in the tree again right?”

    “Yeah.”

    “Then you might as well stay a while.”

    Rinku nodded and followed him inside, seemingly nervous now, though he followed Jonathan into his bedroom.  Jonathan really was tired, after running for his life the night before, walking all over Sunnydale before lunch today...he seriously needed a nap.

    He lay down and was dozing in seconds...his eyes barely opening when an unfamiliar weight settled on the bed in front of him.  Rinku had lain down as well.

    Jonathan smiled and drifted off, barely noticing when Rinku's hand held his.  Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

xxx

    Over the next two weeks things changed between them...somehow Rinku had gotten his hands on some American money.  He wasn't sure he wanted to know how.  But after that he was the one taking Jonathan out, to the movies, for pizza...even a boat ride at the lake.

    The vampires, when they came across them, didn't even look at Jonathan like food anymore...which was nice and made him feel a lot safer.  It wasn't until Rinku presented him with a pendant to wear around his neck that Jonathan realized he was being courted.  And strangely...he was okay with that.  No one had ever wanted him like that before, and he was really starting to like Rinku.

    He accepted the pendant making their courtship official.  However what he enjoyed most...was seeing Rinku every morning, either at his window, or when he and Buddy went out the front door.  The greeting was always the same and made him smile.

    “Hello Jono.”

XXX

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