I pulled at my yukata with distaste, having wanted to immediately take it off as soon as Mother had put it on me. There was a commotion going on with the adults that I didn't understand, but it put the rest of us in an uneasy mood. Even back then, Mother had a problem with getting worked up over appearances - she took maybe two hours to do Ran's hair. She didn't even have much hair to do, but every time she put a comb in it and had Ran turn around she just wasn't statisfied. I had felt bad for Ran, watching her grab her scalp and cry at how raw it had become from being tugged and pulled on so much - but if I were being honest, at the time I was mostly just thankful to be born a male. No decorative head pieces for me, just a too-long yukata handed down from our older brother Tsukasa, who had the privellege of having the newest, best-fitting clothes of all of us.

He sat in the corner, looking smug. Not that there was ever a different expression on his face. I was only a year and a half younger than him, but he acted as if it were a complete class difference. I suppose that's why my clothes always had holes cut into them before they were passed to me - his way of keeping that feeling of supriority. Of course, at that age I just assumed he was a bully.

It hurts, it hurts, it hurts.

I couldn't cover my ears at the small voice, otherwise Mother would know I was doing it again. I didn't ever mean to - I didn't even want to. But Ran was always louder than anyone else. I could feel my face twitch at the noise.

IT HURTS, IT HURTS -

"Mother, I'm hungry," I peeled with the whiniest voice I could manage. I grabbed her own yukata from beside her, pulling on it petulantly. "You said we could have sukiyaki, Mother..."

She pulled her yukata away from my small hands and looked down at me with disdain. I could pick up a slight bit of her thoughts, needy... not much else, but enough to remember her feelings about me. It was no secret she didn't like me - even back then I knew that my psychic powers manifesting at such a young age had caused her nothing but trouble.

I was, after all, the reason she found out she had married into a psychic family.

"Sashimi!" Tsukasa chimed in, unfolding his arms and clopping in his sandals towards us. Mother was taken aback by the sudden bombardment as Kanae slid the door open and repeated the chant.

Ran slid out of Mother's lap clutching at her head and sneaking behind me. " 'uki 'aki," she mumbled with a lisp, clutching my yukata for safety. Mother frowned deeply, sighing as Ran shook the combs out of her hair.

Even then I wasn't sure what she was expecting a four year old to do. Mother stood, dusting herself off and placing her arms firmly on her hips. "Our company will be here soon - we can eat then! If you really must eat something there is mochi settling in the kitchen."

Tsukasa was the first to run off, followed quickly by Kanae. I could hear her shove him off of the porch, never the one to play nicely. Ran pushed me forward, afraid to leave without me. The action had Mother narrowing her eyes at me, as if it were my fault that Ran were afraid of her.

He's doing it again. Mother's anger had her thoughts come through much clearer, but she had no confidence behind them. While she was right, I was using my powers, she had no proof and wouldn't risk asking for fear of reminding me that I still had any. I wasn't like Ran or Tsukasa, I couldn't have my abilities repressed by other psychics.

"Let's go get some mochi, Ran."

"Mochi!" She pushed me forward again, this time hitting me with her little fist. I turned and picked her up, foisting her small body in the air as she kicked. The four years I had on her made her rather easy for me to carry, but the struggling definitely made it harder.

I'm done with that boy.

I tried not to react to Mother's thoughts as I rudely slid the door closed with my foot.

I watched Ran squish her remaining mochi between her hands, dirtying them. She tried to wipe her hands on her yukata but both Tsukasa and I stopped her as Kanae handed us a paper towel.

"You should have just dealt with it," Tsukasa muttered, wiping between Ran's fingers. Red bean jam stuck almost like glue under her finger nails but we both tried our best to get it out before Mother came in and noticed.

"It hurts when she yells," I whispered back, trying not to let Kanae hear our conversation. Tsukasa knew I was psychic, but was typically unsympathetic. He didn't understand that I couldn't turn it off, thought I did it purposefully to taunt our parents. He was only ten but even then his hubris was unbearable.

I hurt 'gato? Ran looked up at me, her eyes wide. I pet her head.

"No, you didn't hurt me."

"See, that, stop that." Tsukasa chided, "don't reply to her, whatever you're doing. Just... keep the freak stuff inside."

Freak stuff, I frowned. I supposed I was a freak, though I never thought down on myself for it. If anything, I was thankful I was given a look into the thoughts of others - It was easier to say what people wanted to hear, easier to figure out who to trust.

Gotta pee.

With a sigh I held my hand out to Ran. Normally I'd let her go by herself, but with so many adults bustling about it was a good idea not to let her roam around. She had a tendancy to hurt herself.

We stepped out to the wooden porch, her kicking her feet as she walked. She looked up at me, smiled brightly, and then frowned.

"Momma doesn't like 'gato."

I sighed, "No, she sure doesn't."

She squeezed my hand, "But I like 'Gato! I love 'Gato!"

I snorted, "Then let's be on our best behaviour tonight, okay?"

She stopped walking and then began to tear up. Confused, I knelt down and pulled her hand away from her face. I ate it...

"Ran, it's okay. I wasn't going to eat it anyway," She thought I didn't see her sneaking my mochi out of the tray, but it's hard to hide things from someone who can hear your thoughts so clearly. Truthfully, I wasn't a huge fan of sweets so I probably would have given it to her or Kanae.

"I sowwe," she sniffled, grabbing back at my hand. Gotta pee.

"Right." I ushered her quicker down the porch, into a side room that had a bathroom in it. Our estate was large enough to have five bathrooms in the main house, not that any of them were used often.

I could hear the commotion as our guests must have entered the main house. With a sigh I hoped that Ran would be finished soon so I could go back to hiding and staying out of sight. I loathed Mother's "play-dates," they were nothing but political grabs most of the time, even as a kid I could see that. I didn't realize then that this would be my least favorite play-date of them all.

Pathetic.

The voice was loud, louder than Ran's normally was. I found myself kneeling forward slightly, my ears ringing. Ran opened the bathroom door, looking at me curiously.

Useless. Pointless.

I whimpered and Ran grabbed onto me, asking me if I were okay. I had no clue where the voice was coming from, but the intense sting that came with it was enough to have me on my knees. I would later compare it to a dog whistle, but as it continued I got used to the frequency.

"I'm okay, I'm okay. Just a headache," I reassured Ran. I grabbed her hand and lead her back into the kitchen where our siblings were. Tsukasa looked at me worriedly - I raised an eyebrow at him. Could he feel it too?

What is the point of this? Why am I still even here?

I left Ran in the kitchen and went on my own to try and find the source of the voice - It sounded like one of the adults but also...not. Either way, it twisted the inside of my stomach fiercely.

Why haven't I killed her?

I was standing just outside the door, vibrating in anxiety. I had never heard thoughts like this before, and though it wouldn't be the last time no other malicious intent would be hit me the same way. I was terrified.

Gulping, I slid the door open with more force than I had intended. In front of me stood my parents, an uncle of mine, and our visitors: A husband and wife along their child, who seemed to be around my age. Defiantly, I glared around the room, thinking perhaps bravado would stop the malicious intent oozing from one of our visitors. I met eyes with their son, his red hair neatly trimmed and his expression rather listless.

An annoyance. A scene played through his head as he regarded me with bored eyes. He had dealt with annoying children before. The image of my body suspended, impaled by what looked like vines flashed graphically through my head. I started to shake. Whatever this kid was, he wasn't human.

My mother had started speaking to me but I couldn't hear her over the panicked ringing in my ears - my face paled. The boy, proving to be quite the astute one, seemed to have picked up on my abilities. Within seconds the stream of information had been shut off without the expression on his face changing even minutely. I would never really be able to forget how nonchalantly he toyed with the thought of my death, it would be the source of nightmares for months to come.

In my defiance and petulance, I stepped up to him, ignoring our parents questions. My mother had thought to grab me and pull me back but didn't want to look bad in front of our guests. My father was just confused, chalking it up to me being a growing boy with dominance issues. Now I realize I was just being foolish.

He met me at eye level, a bored and resigned look plastered to his face.

I did what any eight year old kid would do.

I vomited on his shoes.

Mother really didn't like me.

I was used to this fact, and did my best to not bother her most days. Unlike today, where I had repeatedly gotten on her nerves. After helping our guest clean up, she had taken me outside by the currently uninhabited guest house and smacked my face. It didn't take long for it to begin to swell, and even a full two hours later I was still feeling the pain.

"What was that about?" Tsukasa demanded. I could tell from the fact that he was whispering that he had been told not to bother me. Mother had me sequestered in the room he and I shared and had made it very clear I wouldn't be seen or spoken to until our guests had left. Which was fine with me - I wanted to avoid the Minamino kid as much as possible. Though the violent images in his head were loud, I didn't feel like he could be a real threat. It wasn't the first time I had picked up on a violent thought, after all, and he was my age. There was no way he'd be able to kill me for real.

Not too long after Mother had locked me in my room, it had begun to snow quite heavily. Which meant our guests were staying the night and that I was probably not leaving this room even to eat. That mochi I had let Ran have earlier became more of a regret than I thought it would.

I wasn't sure how to respond to my brother. Though he was older, he never had to hear the thoughts of others so he didn't know some of the darker truths I couldn't avoid at that age. I didn't want to accuse our guest of being some kind of hellspawn, especially since back then I didn't know how right that was. Instead, I merely shrugged. "I went to introduce myself, and got nervous," I was giving him the story Mother had made up for our guests.

Tsukasa didn't buy it. "I don't... do the thing you do. But I felt that. Whatever that was. I know there's something else going on."

"Mother's going to get rid of me soon," I changed the subject as throughly as possible, hoping to knock Tsukasa back with the news. Thankfully he looked quite shocked and my tactic was successful. "I heard her thinking it earlier. That's why Uncle Jun is here tonight."

Tsukasa didn't say anything, but I could tell he was only slightly bothered by the news. I wasn't surprised. He had been raised to be the heir and golden boy, after all, and me leaving would make his life easier. It'd make everyone's life easier.

There was a tug from beyond the wall, a pull with a specific signature to it. I sighed and drug my hand down my face, wincing slightly as I pushed too hard on the bruise Mother had left me. I still didn't understand Ran's powers, but her uncanny ability to show them off at the worst times could have been considered a talent in its own right.

The moments when she tugged my powers away from me to use them herself were the scariest and yet the most relieving moments of my childhood. I had no way of stopping her from sifting through my mind when she had zapped me, and somehow she always knew what to look for.

For a four year old, she was a devastating psychic.

"'Gato, stay." She pushed past Tsukasa and into our room, her eyes welling up with tears. "'Gato dun go!"

"Ran..." I chided, standing to pick her up. She was getting too big for this. "I told you not to do that. It's not safe." Plus, it makes me feel too open.

"'Gato not open!"

Tsukasa and I both sighed. He shuffled nervously, "Should we tell Mom she's doing it again?"

"And get a medium here while we have company to fix it? She'd just lock her up here with me."

Tsukasa dramatically threw his hands in the air, "Well then, I don't know, make her stop! You two - It's not hard for me to deal with this so I don't know why you have to drag me in every time -"

"Tsukasa. Ran. We'll be having dinner soon," my father's voice interrupted Tsukasa's rant, "Your mother said not to bother Nagato, he's not feeling well."

Ran clung to me even though I tried to put her down. "Ran, go on, it's fine." The ebb of her ability started to wane, and I could hear her thoughts again. "Dad, she has to pee."

Our father sighed, staring at me with disdain. "Nagato..."

Apparently shortly after I was born, our father had admitted his family lineage of psychic abilities to our mother, who had no clue at the time. Tsukasa had never really shown any signs of high spiritual awareness, so he never thought his next child would. Unfortunately for him, I showed very early signs of psychic abilities... putting him in a bind and giving him no choice but to come clean.

I had never known a time where my parents seemed to be truly in love, but in my father's thoughts I could tell that it was at one time the case. He would do anything for her, even now that she made him so unhappy. He had visited another psychic, one that was a renown hermit at the time, and had her seal his own psychic powers away before doing the same with myself and subsequently Tsukasa once he was older and Ran as well. His own had never came back, Tsukasa's seemed to just be muted... but for Ran and myself, we required several trips often to lock our powers away. It had gotten to the point where I lied about it. No, Ran hasn't done it again, and No, I can't hear what you're thinking. It had been a few months since I had an appointment, so my power was at its peak.

Still, it was a burden to my father and a reminder of the lie he had decided to live. When this fact crossed his mind, I knew that he supported my mother's desire to have me sent away. I could see that he had planned me to be here tonight as a way of saying goodbye.

Even now I can't stand the thought of how cowardly he was then.

I could never imagine abandoning my own child just because I don't know how to handle them.

Father didn't say anything after that. He could barely meet my eyes. I think he knew that even at eight years old I was looking down at him, and I like to imagine that even now he can feel my contempt for him whenever I cross his mind.

After the house had begun to quiet down, Kanae and Ran made their way to my room with food hidden inside their yukata. Kanae, six at the time and still just as abrasive, was uncharacteristically quiet as she passed me a meat bun.

"You two didn't have to do this! I would have been fine."

"'Gato was hungry, Kanae said so," Ran nodded enthusiastically as she too passed me a meat bun. Kanae looked away at Ran's words, her face flushing with shame.

Ah. Kanae had never seemed to have any sort of abilities before, but that seemed to have changed somehow. My gut was telling me that it had something to do with the Minamino kid.

"You feel sad," Kanae said, frowning. "Don't be."

I gave them both a side-arm hug, thanking them for the food. Kanae left hurriedly afterwards, likely embarrassed over her unusual kindness. Ran lingered, studying me carefully. Sometimes I forgot she was four years younger than me, and that she too had seen into the minds of other's with my own abilities.

"''Gato was hungry. I ate your mochi." I could feel her energy tugging at mine, taking my power and turning it against me. I wondered if she heard my thoughts as clearly as I could hear hers. "Now you're leaving. Is it me?" Normally I would expect Ran to cry - as it was her eyes had begun to prickle with tears - but she tried valiantly to be calm.

Yes, Ran, I'm leaving because you ate my mochi, I sarcastically quipped in my head, forgetting that she'd be able to read my mind until she passed my power back. She gripped at her yukata, looking down and biting her lip. "Ran, no, I'm joking -"

And then I was knocked back into my bed frame, Ran's energy slamming me backwards in a gust of power. I had never experienced this before - my breath was knocked straight out of me. She began to wail as only a little kid could - loudly, and uncontrollably.

"No, Ran! Shh, I was joking, I'm not really - " But I was leaving, and it was because I could hear her thoughts "- Ran, stop, you have to stop -" This would just make it worse, they'd do something to her now, God - "Calm down!" It was said for both of our efforts, but she pulled away from me as I reached out to her. Her outburst had ended and the refueling had begun. She was sucking energy in at such a rate that I could feel myself getting lightheaded. What seemed to be translucent bugs were coming in through the window I had cracked, covering the room even as I tried to knock them away.

The door was shoved open by my father, who first had a panicked look of alarm on his face - one which turned into a steely glare directed at me. Mother stood at the doorway, and I could tell there were others behind her drawn by Ran's screaming. Father grabbed me roughly, pulling me away from Ran as the Minamino boy squeezed his way past Mother's legs to get a better look. His own mother reached for him to drag him away, but I could tell from the look on his face that he was stunned - it was the most emotion the kid had shown since I had seen him. Confusion lined his face as he looked from me, back to Ran, but then he and I were both pulled away as Mother was shouting for someone to call an ambulance. I took one last look at Ran, trying to reach for her, but her eyes were unfocused and she was curled into herself.

What had I done? How had I done it?

Minamino and I were left in a room with my brother and sister. The two of us were quiet as Tsukasa and Kanae tried to ask what had happened. Minamino looked up at me once, opened his mouth as if to speak, and then seemed to think better of it. A child wouldn't know what had just happened, I heard, my powers finally returning from Ran. To think this trip would be so fruitful for me. Everything else that came from him was static.

Three days later, Ran returned from the "hospital," though I knew she had only spent one night there. The other two nights, I found out, she had been visiting the hermit psychic our family kept paid to wipe our abilities. I had my things packed and waiting while Tsukasa and Kanae tearfully protested against my parent's choice for me to leave. I was surprised most by Tsukasa - he hadn't ever shown that kind of loyalty before. It was as I was getting into Uncle Jun's truck that I saw our father return with Ran.

I had wanted to say goodbye, I began to get out of the truck but Uncle Jun stopped me. At the look on his face I realized something was wrong. He seemed almost upset but I couldn't read why. Uncle Jun had never bothered to hide his psychic powers, and I had never been able to read his mind. It was probably why he was okay with taking me in while my parents couldn't handle keeping me.

Ran, however, walked within close enough distance that I could feel her mind. She looked over to us, staring curiously at me. It wasn't a series of words that I felt from her, but the confusion and the interest that rushed through her - never before had I been unable to actually hear her thoughts, but now all I got was a burst of emotion.

"What did they do to her?" I whispered, trying my hardest to read her thoughts. It all came back muddled, and as she walked away the only thing I could hear was her physical voice instead of her mental one.

"Daddy, who's that boy?"

I could feel my stomach drop and twist, feeling as if I had been stabbed straight in the gut. Uncle Jun wouldn't meet my eyes as he started the truck, and I couldn't bring myself to move. How could she not know me? Ran. Ran. The girl who clung to me daily. The only one who never had a negative thought about me. My youngest sister.

Uncle Jun broke the silence once we had made it partially down the road, "It's better for her this way. It was the only way they could keep her power locked. Every time you were mentioned, she'd have another fit."

"A fit?"

He sighed. "Nagato, I know this isn't the ideal situation for you. It certainly isn't for me. We should just try and make the best out of it."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Even more so, I couldn't believe how powerless I was to stop it. I was forbidden from stepping foot at the main house - I was forbidden from contacting my family. Uncle Jun raised me, begrudgingly, and it wasn't exactly a charmed life.

Uncle Jun was strict about me understanding my powers. He lived in the city and knew the dangers of being a budding psychic and through him and a few instructors, I learned a basic understanding of how spirit energy worked, how my body worked. At some point I realized I could telepathically communicate with others, though I did whatever I could to avoid opening any kind of path into my own mind.

I learned a bit of martial arts, but it wasn't something I was interested in enough to continue even though Uncle Jun tried to insist. Normally I was very good at keeping myself out of the kinds of situations that would require it, but with my abilities growing there were ways for me to incapacitate most people should the need arise.

At 15, I came across the Minamino kid in passing. By that point, I had understood what demons were and knew how to sense them. He wasn't quite demon, wasn't quite human - but I knew that I hated him. I had always blamed him for what happened that night. I understood it was irrational.

What made me the most upset was that he seemed happy. There was a smile on his face as he spoke with whoever was next to him. Unlike the years prior, he actually seemed to have emotions and even friends.

Around that time, I had realized that my powers had their uses. Living in the city with Jun, there were many more people for me to read, which lead to plenty of fortuitous opportunities I wouldn't have had otherwise. One such chance was scoring an internship at 17 with a leading pharmaceutical company. From there, I worked my way up, using my ability to somewhat read minds to my advantage.

I didn't have a goal at first - other than moving out as soon as possible. The day I turned 20 was also the day I signed the lease on my apartment. It was also the day I was promoted as a board member within Kamagawa Pharmacy. I had no honest interest in the industry until I had turned 24 - at that time, the entire board was panicking due to an upturn with Hatanaka Corporation. The step-son would be taking over now that the CEO had passed away. It was just another piece of news until a month later.

Typical business meet and greet, as our companies were closely tied through R&D. I had just been going through the motions, using my abilities to get by comfortably with as much money as I could make. If I were being truthful, I hadn't even thought about my family for years. The second I saw Shuichi Minamino step through the door, everything came flooding back.

I waited for him to recognize me as I shook his hand and introduced myself - there wasn't even a hint of recognition. The two or three words I was able to pick from his mind only reflected the nature I knew he had, the nature that I had begun to share: Boredom.

That's when I started looking into Shuichi - or as I quickly learned his true name was, Kurama. It was amazing what you could learn if you just asked a few people. It was then that I turned my boredom into a bit of a game for me. What started as a few favors using my ability ended up with me a little farther in the darker parts of underground business than I had intended to ever be. I learned a lot about Kurama though - he was a demon. A rather well known, intimidating one. The rumors surrounding him were practically legendary.

After a year, I found out that the entirety of Hatanaka Corporation had been turned into a front for immigrating demons. I had decided to use this to my advantage and began looking for those who would break the rules so rigorously set by Spirit World and Kurama himself. I would offer them openings for escape should they make the wrong decision by monitoring the minds of those set on patrol duty. I had two main rules:

1.) I wouldn't help killers escape.

2.) I would never risk a run in with the one called Hiei.

His mind reading abilities far out-weighed my own if the stories had been correct, and if I were going to keep this game up it would require carefully monitoring his schedule in order to find the safest time to evacuate naughty demons. I didn't realize until I had been doing this for awhile that a part of me actually enjoyed the risk involved. It felt good to know I was outsmarting the demon that took my childhood away from me (or, at least played a part.)

That's when I met Natsumi.

And everything kind of fell into chaos.

"I did something bad," the girl was shaking, unable to meet my eye. I leaned back in my chair, pushing my glasses up to examine the demon in front of me. She was small, with light hair and a petite frame. And, really she was fairly cute. But a demon was a demon, and demons only came to me for one things.

"Define 'bad,'" I asked, already weary. I knew of this particular demon - she was one of the prominent employees of Hatanaka Corp., and resources told me that she worked closely with Kurama himself. I didn't know if I wanted to risk taking a project so close to him.

"I... killed someone."

A sigh escaped my mouth before I could stop it, but I couldn't blame myself. I stood, walking to the other side of the room to gaze out of the window. From Kamagawa's main building you could clearly see the Hatanaka high rise. It was an annoying reminder. "Surely if you, someone so close to Kurama -" I chuckled at her gasp, "- yes, I know you. If you could find out about me, then you must know that I don't deal with murder cases. It's too messy. Spirit World pays attention when humans die, and even more attention when Demon World immigrants are involved. There's nothing I can do to help you."

"I never said I killed a human!"

That piqued my interest.

Out of the hundreds of demons I had helped in the last few years, none of them had tried to escape from crimes against their own. As biased as I was about demons, they tended to own up or even take pride in their transgressions. This was the first time I could feel regret swarm through the mind of a demon - and not 'Oh no, I'll be caught!' regret, but actual 'How could I have done this?' regret. It was then that Ran crossed my mind after not thinking about her for so long.

I knew a bit about regret.

I circled back over to my desk, trialing my hand thoughtfully against the surface of it. I regarded the girl before me again. She was, frankly, kind of adorable. With another sigh I cursed my hormones and fiddled with my glasses.

"Tell me what happened. I'm sure you know enough about me not to be silly enough to lie."

Some decades ago, Natsumi and her half-sister Kasumi stumbled into the Living World through an unexpected portal that had been torn in the Kekkai. Thankfully for them, they were able to blend in fairly easily since they were on the weaker end of the demonic spectrum. That was likely how they managed to stay under the radar until Spirit World lowered the Kekkai barrier.

After that, they cracked down on undocumented demons. Nagato did have a few soft spots for the demons that had spent most of their existence in the Living World. There were so many that were relocated to Demon World when they hadn't caused any trouble to begin with. It was the ones that were useful to Spirit World they let stay on good behavior.

They had been running from place to place, homeless for the first time since they had crossed worlds. When they were at their wits end, not able to avoid the demons that were tasked with patrolling for unauthorized demons that's when they met Kurama.

It had been a recommendation to most to seek him out - for some it was just a way to guarantee deportation if they couldn't find a use for them. For others it was a saving grace. With the help of Spirit World, capable demons could be given housing, a job, and a life.

At first glance, neither of the sisters seemed worth it to the red-headed tycoon.

Not that anyone ever seemed worth it to him, the thought passed through the downtrodden Natsumi as she told her story, the face of a young human girl passing too quickly for me to get a hold of who it could be. Until now...

After it was revealed that her half-sister was exceptional with numbers - capable of memorizing long strings that a normal mathematician would never be able to - Kurama changed his mind and hired them both. Natsumi knew that he only hired her to keep Kasumi, and though it was a jab at her pride she worked hard to prove her usefulness and the two of them rose within the company quickly, even considering themselves friends to Kurama.

Natsumi fell in love with him. I could feel the stream of longing as countless days of watching him from afar passed wistfully through her head. It ended with a sigh, and then that young woman's face again. I couldn't place the striking feeling that I knew her until Natsumi had mentioned her name out loud: Sakana Ran.

I had been fiddling with my glasses when the name crossed her mind. I unintentionally found myself flinging them towards Natsumi with a flinch of my finger, failing to catch them before they whacked the petite demon in the face. For a full moment she just flashed several scenes of my sister injuring herself - tripping over nothing, slamming her face onto her desk after her elbow slipped, biting the inside of her mouth while talking excitedly about romantic comedies - and then her eyes fell to my name plate on my desk.

"HOLY SMOKES -" She stood up, her chair sliding back "YOU - YOU'RE -"

"Uh, hey -" I stood, reaching a hand towards her as she backed away.

"RELATED TO -"

"Can you -"

"SHE TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!"

The worried expression on my face dropped to what I imagine must have been rather startling because she stopped moving backwards - my glasses were forgotten on the desk so I quickly shuffled around for them, unable to see her face without them.

The accusation on her face as I could feel her mind spinning in a hundred directions at once, too fast for me to pick up any distinct paths of focus. Suddenly she was storming towards the desk, slamming her hands against it and causing me to jump. I had worked hard to keep up the cool persona but having a cute, yet ferocious looking demon stare at me with such a heated look had me taken aback... despite the fact she barely reached my shoulder.

I could see events flash in her head - her, collapsed in my sisters apartment, telling Kurama that she was giving up on him was the most emotionally charged at the forefront, Kurama gazing over at Ran as she spoke with Kanae in her kitchen. I felt sick at the warm look he gave her, at the shy gaze she returned with a small smile.

Kurama and my sister out for a meal with an older woman - his mother, I realized, barely able to recognize her - Natsumi hiding, not expecting to see them there, the sadness crushing her like a wave. Her and Ran were friends, I realized, but after that point Natsumi couldn't handle being around her as much.

"You put her there, didn't you? That's how you - do this - this illegal -" She stopped, as if remembering the reason she had been in my office in the first place. "You've been tricking Kaichou... That's it, isn't it... God... It makes sense, otherwise he would never have..." She trailed off, beginning to tear up.

I straightened my glasses on my face, fixing my slightly askew collar. From my front pocket I removed a handkerchief and offered it to her. She just stared at me without accepting it.

"I haven't seen my sister in almost seventeen years. I had no idea she even lived in Tokyo. In fact, I am quite interested in some of the information I have gleaned from you -" She gasped, having forgotten apparently that i could read minds, "- and I can't say I'm happy with her... choice of company."

Natsumi scowled at me, affronted at my insult to the man she loved. I matched her scowl, affronted by the offense to my sister. She hesitated before accepting the handkerchief and wiping at her eyes.

"How am I supposed to know you're not lying?" She muttered, a startlingly cute pout on her face. Oh, jeez, Nagato. Pull it together.

"I can show you, should you be willing. I can open my mind to yours just as yours is to mine."

She seemed skeptical, so I shot her an image of her precious Kurama as the child I had originally met him as to try and catch her curiosity. It seemed to work, for she flushed a deep red and then muttered, "F-fine."

"There is a catch, however. A request that you're more than free to decline."

Carefully she tried to read my expression. This time it was my turn for red to color my cheeks.

"Do you wanna maybe grab dinner after this?"

"Oh, wow. You, uh," You look really cute. I took the risk and opened my thoughts to her so she could see I was being genuine. It just managed to make her blush and make her feel uncomfortable. She didn't seem to dislike it though. I chanced keeping my hopes up, for now.

The rest of the meeting in my office had taken a rather dramatic turn. I showed her my past, telling her that I've felt as if Kurama had taken everything from me - she told me that I was idiotic, that I could have fought against the decisions the adults made at the time or even gone and seen my siblings now that I was older. She wasn't wrong, I realized, I was harboring a lot of ill-will that wasn't rightfully earned. Still, I wasn't willing to swap my distaste for Kurama for any other kind of feeling.

I turned the rebuttal back on her rather quickly. She never really pushed Kurama for any kind of chance - in fact, she had the habit of telling him to disregard her. I chided her - her love was a practical cold person who would take what she said at face value not because he knew it was true but because he could use her. She knew there was truth to that, but still yelled at me for a good two minutes after I pointed it out.

She believed me, though, and continued with her story.

After working for Kurama for several years, she had discovered that her half-sister Kasumi had been embezzling funds with the plan to skip Living World altogether - a plan that would single handedly toss Hatanaka Corp into months of digging itself out of the hole. While I didn't see an issue with that, Natsumi (though she had effectively given up on Kurama, still felt just as strongly about him) couldn't stand by and let it happen. So they argued.

And then they fought.

It wasn't the typical kind of fight most would expect - no hair pulling, scratching, mean names. Kasumi knew the penalties for being found out, and even though she was fighting against her dear sister she fought to the death. Natsumi had no choice but to end her life and save her own. The amount of pain it caused her made me a bit nauseous to relive, and there was regret for her actions. But there was no regret in her reasoning.

Natsumi wanted a way out of Living World, a way to be safe and not be put to death as Spirit World liked to do with wayward demons. Since Kasumi had been seen as vital to the company fronting an entire immigration process, she feared that drastic measures could be taken... She didn't have any reassurances that Kurama would spare her life, even knowing the reasons behind her actions.

And this is the kind of person Ran is dating?

More worrying was that Natsumi had let me in on what had been an open-secret between the group closer to Kurama - seemingly out of Ran's best interests (I doubted that was the case) he had repeatedly used a semi-experimental drug on my sister to wipe her memory of demonic encounters. I flashed back to my parents doing the same, erasing her memory of me and locking her powers away to "protect her," and I had to feel pissed off. She was never given a choice.

I hadn't closed the connection between Natsumi and I, and she seemed to understand my distress after it swarmed through my mind. She commented on how strange it was to feel my thoughts, but it didn't seem to repulse her.

So now that she had murdered her sister, she combed the city for the person responsible for the dissidents falling through the cracks. She talked to a guy, who talked to a guy, who asked a guy, who talked to another guy... I felt maybe I should be worried about how easily it turned out for her to find me, but I realized that the powers that be had to have known about my activities. I hadn't exactly done much to hide myself.

The question that we both wanted to know, however, was did Kurama know about me?

"I don't... think so," Natsumi was slow to admit, "He had Kasumi and I both do background checks on Ran. You never came up."

"And yet you thought I planted her there?" I teased, closing my menu as we waited for the waiter to resurface. She shyly looked away.

"If that were your plan, wouldn't erasing all connections be the first thing you'd do?"

Touché.

I try, she nervously sent back.

The waiter delivered our salads, and we picked at it in outward silence but exchanged thoughts and events related to how we could get her out of trouble. But there was another, nagging worry on the top of my head that Natsumi relinquished to: We had to do something about Ran.

I don't think he'd ever do anything to hurt her. He does love her, Natsumi managed to sigh with her mind, an impressive feat that I didn't think was possible. I don't know the extent of the memory manipulation he's used, though.

Manipulation? I was under the impression it was just making her forget?

She shrugged almost imperceptibly, I'm not sure how it works. One day she was telling me that she wasn't going to give up on loving him, the next she was telling it she had been faking it the whole time. Now they're... She made a noncommittal gesture with her and, as if not having the words even just trying to think about it.

At the forlorn feeling that crossed her words, I had to smile. You miss Ran.

She was a good friend.

That left us with a difficult choice. Where as I thought we needed to save Ran, and take her far, far away from any kind of interaction with the demon I had come to loathe so much, Natsumi was more adamant that it would be enough to figure out a way for her to get her memories back and let her decide on her own.

There was also the problem of Kasumi "missing." She wasn't actually missing by any means, Natsumi knew exactly where she was, missing a few limbs according to the rather grizzly image that Natsumi couldn't stop. I had become mostly desensitized to some of the more brutal things demons could be capable of. I refused to help murderers...that didn't mean I didn't know a few.

Natsumi wasn't going to be able to return to work after our plan was set in motion, we decided. There wasn't much anywhere that she could go, since there were eyes and ears all over the city that would be looking for her once Kasumi's disappearance came to light. We had maybe a week to decide how we were going to handle the situation. We couldn't let the body decompose - as distasteful as it sounded - because we needed someone to recognize her.

The only plan we could think of was a pretty risky one. I needed to get close enough to Kurama to be able to read his thoughts - he had very strong control over his energy, even at our meeting when he took over Hatanaka I couldn't get a read on him. My powers had never been something that I could actively control well, either - I couldn't choose what bits I picked up unless they were on an open wavelength with me.

We also had no clue if he knew who I was, or what I had been doing.

Natsumi had about a week left in the office before we had to hide her, which meant she would have to act normal around not only Kurama but the rest of the demonic staff that could easily pick up on a shift in her energy or mood. It was a downside to working with such a group of people I hadn't thought of, but perhaps thats why the immigration program happened to work well.

"I'm by no means high enough in my company to begin any kind of trade with Hatanaka other than what we have right now - the Research and Development team. Even then, there's already a pre-set committee that passes information back and forth." I tapped my fork nervously against my plate, not meaning to speak out loud but frustrated enough not to notice. We had finished our meal, and now were just chatting while the restaurant staff cleaned around us. We'd have to leave soon. I'm a bit sad about that. You do look quite cute.

Natsumi hit my arm lightly, almost, dare I say, playfully at the thought I sent her way. We've been here hours. You're not bad company, she admitted, giggling out loud at the sound of heavenly trumpets I played in my head at her response.

"The R&D team..." She trailed off, tapping her own fork in mimicry of my own actions, "Yaguchi-san mentioned that they were looking for interns..."

"... I'm not sure I like where this is going."

This is a terrible idea, I aimed at the small girl pretending she didn't know me. Natsumi was wearing a frilled blouse that looked well with her eyes. I thought as such and she dropped her pen. Though she wasn't looking at me, I could see her ears redden. I was satisfied.

I don't know what other choice we have! We only have a week... She was filling out some kind of paperwork with the front desk, while I waited patiently for a visitors badge. I didn't think me coming and begging Kurama for a job - which was kind of our original idea - would work, so we were going straight to the head of the R&D department instead.

The elevator to my right opened, and to my shock and horror both Ran and Kurama stepped out. Ran was mid sentence when Kurama and I met eyes - I nervously nodded to him, not surprised that he didn't seem to recognize me... at first.

"I'll do my best to cover her numbers while she's gone, Shui- Minamino-san, but math has never been my strong point," Ran was saying. Honestly, she thought, Why would he put me in charge of something so important?

I tried to remember the whole reason I was here, and did what I could to tune my loud sister out. I focused on the static feeling I had gotten from Kurama, trying to force it to form some sort of sense. He was appraising me, I could tell, in the few moments our paths crossed. Kamagawa Pharmaceuticals?

Oh god, he recognized me. Natsumi! Hurry, please.

There was a confusion in his thoughts though, as I realized that while he remembered shaking my hand he didn't remember my name. I was a bit shocked until I picked out two words from the static. Not... Important...

Oh, that asshole.

So he didn't think I was important enough to remember my name? Suddenly I was feeling more motivated than ever to tear Ran away from his side, but something in Ran's thoughts caught my attention before I could do anything stupid.

It was like feeling through layers. I could tell that there was something wrong with her memories just by poking around a bit. This may have been a change in plans, and I quickly relayed the information to Natsumi. I think we can do that tonight. We may be able to jog some of her memories with the method we spoke about before.

Trauma? Do you really wanna do that?

I was sitting in the lion's den, and somehow still hadn't been eaten. The fact that I made it this far was a miracle. But just testing Kurama's mind, I knew that I couldn't try too hard to get in. He'd notice for sure.

There are some demons that owe me a few favors. I think we can make it work. I pretended my phone was ringing, glanced up at the receptionist as she was finalizing my visitors badge. "I- I, oh my god I'm so sorry but this is an urgent call. I have to take this - Can I come back another time?"

She smiled warmly at me, unaware and not suspicious. I was human, after all. "Of course, I'll keep your name in the registry to make the process a bit smoother when you come back in, just make sure you bring your ID. Yaguchi was excited to see you, so I'm sure he'd be fine rescheduling."

"Oh, man, you're a life saver!" I flashed her a sincere smile, as she likely didn't know the literal meaning to my words. I answered my fake phone call and rushed outside, making sure to head the opposite direction Ran and Kurama had ventured off in. Was he walking her home? The prick.

What was that about? Natsumi asked, our connection still strong since she was on the first floor still.

What was what about? My smile at the receptionist played back through my head, but at a different angle. I hadn't realized Natsumi was watching me at that time, but I had to grin even if she couldn't see it. What, jealous already? Are my charms that effective?

She didn't reply immediately, but then let out one of her now trademarked mind-sighs, I have to get to work... and then she hopped in the elevator, zooming quickly out of my range.

Get it together, Nagato, I reminded myself. Now was not the time to swoon over small demon women. Well, a small demon woman. But then my phone buzzed against my ear, interrupting my fake call with a real one.

Natsumi muttered shyly through the line, "If you are not busy tomorrow we could get dinner again. T-To discuss the results of tonight, of course... "

I wished that I could read her mind then, but knew I had gotten too used to sharing my own thoughts with her - there was no way I wanted her to be able to tell how unexpectedly nervous her spontaneous call had made me. "Uh, yeah, yes! We can, for sure."

The night ended in disaster. The kind that I hadn't exactly foreseen as a real possibility but it turned out I had sightly - okay, more than slightly - underestimated my sister. Ran had, much to my horror, murdered the shape-shifting demon I had paid to startle her. While I knew there was a high chance that he would end up dead regardless (let's be honest, if I had been upfront and told the demon he would be dealing with Kurama there would be no amount of money I could have paid him. Small, defenseless human sounded way better) I didn't expect it would be at her hands.

And from my safe spot hiding in the abandoned apartment above her own, I realized that she hadn't expected it either. The horror that filled her stomach as she realized what she had done washed through me like the worst kind of poison. I ended up throwing up repeatedly, trying to get the feeling out of my system. But even Natsumi's worried hand on my back couldn't reassure me that my actions were the right ones.

There's no going back now, I quipped with chagrin. To make matters worse, the demon I had spent the last several years trying to avoid even more so than Kurama zipped into my sisters apartment. Ugh. Hiei. His Jagan eye would find me if I let my powers linger, so I had no choice but to shut them off and wait him out. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Hiei to leave - Natsumi let me know when his energy was far enough for me to focus again - and I quickly scanned Ran to catch up on the events.

Unexpectedly, there had been another set of demons causing trouble. Kurama seemed to think they were related to us, which was a nice surprise. It meant he'd be focusing on a wider selection of groups to look for Kasumi. We had already placed her body in the unused conference room with the help of another psychic I knew who could ward the area with talismans so no one would be able to sense it. Both Natsumi and I were uncomfortable desecrating a corpse and not giving it a proper resting place, but it was the only way we felt we could shock Ran enough to shake loose a few memories.

As it stood up, I already had picked up on one that left me wanting to retch again. It was a foggy memory, but I felt it was important. Ran,at his apartment, looking down into a cup of tea saying his name wistfully, full of tears. Him saying that he loved her, and the sick feeling in my gut knowing that he meant it... that she meant it when she replied. There was more to it than that, but her mind quickly shut the faucet off and I was left in the dark again.

This was going to be a rough week.

We had to wait a few days for Ran to get back into the office to make our next move. It was the last day Natsumi was going to be safe at the office, and I had to admit I didn't like the idea of having to hide her somewhere far away. I didn't expect to get attached, and the soft sweet feeling that passed as her mind fluttered to other thoughts made it worse. Still. I couldn't focus on my own love life, I was busy ruining my sisters.

You know most big brothers just threaten the guy, not try and topple his company. Natsumi chided. She was with me in a room adjacent to the conference room Kasumi was in, and I found it cute that she didn't bother to speak out loud around me even though we were alone. I had no choice but to be on site, since I would need to manipulate Ran into exploring the hallway leading to Kasumi's body. Natsumi helped me place talismans to guard our room from being noticed, even though as a demon it was uncomfortable to touch them. I appreciated her help. Without her, there was no way I would have been able to sneak into the building, but we had made it unnoticed. She still had a few hours before she needed to be at work, thankfully Ran had decided to be an upstanding employee and go in early to catch up on work. I hadn't had a chance to scope her mind out until she had reached the twenty-second floor.

To my... disgust. I realized that she had spent that night at Kurama's apartment. With him. Next to him. I shook my head, thankful that all they did was sleep, and tried to remind myself that my sister was an adult. It was hard not to see her as the four year old gripping to my yukata.

He had said that he loved her again, and this time hadn't wiped her memory afterwards. Wow, I thought, forgetting Natsumi was likely listening in too, took him long enough to get a backbone.

To my surprise, Natsumi seemed to agree. The hope meter of me getting a girlfriend rose by at least ten points in my head. I visualized the imaginary meter and she had to hold in a chuckle. Thank you, Nagato. I don't know how I could have laughed in this situation otherwise.

It filled me with a bit of pride to at least make someone's day cheery, especially since sorting through Ran's rattled recollections was making me more and more upset. I didn't really notice Natsumi's hand hovering over my own until she touched me.

...Maybe that meter's a little fuller than you thought... she attempted a lighthearted approach to the small confession, but caught me enough off guard that our connection fluctuated - there was no way she could have missed the feeling my heart pounding mentally, and if she had I was sure she would be able to hear it physically beating against my chest.

I had a very short window to call Ran and start our plan, and it had already opened. Instead of any kind of words, I leaned over to Natsumi and pecked her lightly on the cheek. She quickly covered the area with her hand as if she had been punched - It'd be something I'd have to talk about later, because I was currently connecting to Ran's desk. "Thank you for calling the office of Minamino Shuichi, this is Sakana speaking. How can I help you this morning?"

Nagato, do- do you want to - Natsumi's stammering caught me off guard and I couldn't answer Ran - we can date. Normally.

I immediately hung the phone up to look at her. Her face was beet red, probably more so than any face I had ever seen - I had known she was a shy, romantic type but I could tell she had never once asked anyone out before.

H-HEY.

I hadn't realized I was broadcasting my thoughts to her, so I reeled them in and tried to hide my embarrassment. There was also a bit of disbelief that she would bring up dating in a situation like this, but to my surprise and pleasure I could feel the honesty of her statement. You want... to date me?

There was a nonverbal affirmative. I... we... honestly are making a very dangerous choice... and I really. I never expected that you would be so...

Funny? Charming? Handsome?

Caring. I was at a loss, you care so much for Ran, and you've done so much for me already. I should be... probably dead but because of you I'm not. A-and that's not the reason I want to d-date you! I just...

I smiled at her, squeezing her hand to reassure her. We gotta get through this. If we get out of this building alive today, move in with me.

WHAT?

I didn't bother explaining that it would be the safest place for her, what with the dozens of wards and talismans I had lacing my apartment building through sheer paranoia. There'd be no way she'd be found so long as she stayed within a block of my apartment. I could tell her that later, for now I would find as much amusement as I could in her exclamation. What I had to do next was going to drain any good mood I had straight from my body.

When Yumi joined Ran, I used my powers to coax her into the hallway. It was easier than I thought it would be, probably because she was already mentally weak from trying to get over murdering someone. I was incredibly guilty about that, but tried to not let it bleed through the instructions I was giving her. If my emotions leaked, it was over. They passed the room Natsumi and I were in, and we both let out the breath we were holding. I couldn't help the frustration that passed through me whenever she pictured Kurama - which was often, given the situation they were in.

Do you know he's lying to you? I hadn't realized I sent the thought until Ran fought against it. You should ask him. Why don't you? She pushed a little harder, obviously not knowing what she was doing. I supposed subconsciously she remembered dealing with my powers as a kid, and knew how to push them off if she wanted. She was a lot stronger than anyone seemed to give her credit for.

You could probably kill Yumi, you know. I wasn't sure what prompted me to tell her the thoughts I was musing over - she was shocked at the revolution and almost kicked me completely out of her mind. I didn't really want to put the thought in her head, but it was true. If she were to absorb Yumi's abilities like she had done to mine in our youth, it would likely zap Yumi of her energy all in one go, probably even killing her on the spot.

It was then that I realized how dangerous leaving Ran unchecked had probably been all these years.

The second the door opened and Ran saw Kasumi's body, it was like all resistance disappeared at once - instead, floodgates opened and Ran momentarily shut down. I was washed in her memories, almost forcefully, but unable to sort through them properly as Ran was suddenly transported away.

Are you going to throw up again? Natsumi asked, worriedly, I- I brought a bag just in case - I didn't need to form words for her to realize that the bag was very much needed as she grabbed it and opened it for me.

I hadn't even had a girlfriend longer than ten minutes and already I was vomiting in front of her. Great.

This isn't the first time, it's fine you know. She reassured me. I'm more worried. What was that? What happened?

A mirror. A wish. Oh, God.

"Unfortunately, that was exactly what we were looking for."

"Okay. And then what happened?" Ran asked, nervously looking behind her as if Kuwabara or Yukina would pop out at any second.

"Natsumi and I had a lovely dinner, and we took a selfie together. See? Look," I showed her my phone's background as if I hadn't already shown it to her three times. "Look how cute she is."

"You know she bought that outfit to impress Kurama." She pointed out, glaring at me.

"And the bloodstains came out of it quite nicely. It doesn't matter." I regarded my sister carefully. After both of us attempting to act as normal as possible in front of our hosts until it was time for bed, we snuck off to the other side of the temple's main building so that we wouldn't be overheard. The turmoil in Ran's head was palpable, and I couldn't blame her.

"What happened, not related to your cute, demon girlfriend?" Though she was frustrated there was still an edge of amusement to her voice that I was happy to hear.

"Well, we watched you. I watched you, anyway, she hasn't really left the apartment. Kurama never told you that she was actually missing?"

"...No... I just assumed she was dealing with Kasumi's death."

"He probably didn't want to involve you anymore than he already did," I admitted sourly. I didn't want to think of Kurama as caring for my sister. Sadly, the emotions I'd been able to pick up from him were genuine. I was more worried about the emotions coming from Ran.

"It's not like that matters! He - I - I..." She took a breath, trying not to raise her voice. "I don't even know who I am anymore. It didn't even start with him. I didn't even remember you."

I sucked in a breath without really meaning to and held it. I hadn't given it much thought, but I was worried that Ran wouldn't take too kindly to my reappearance in her life. There was a guilty accusation resting on her conscience.

"Why didn't you try to find me?"

"I...I don't know, really," I tried being honest, "I was angry too. Upset. I let that keep me away. Part of me thought it would be easier, too, to start over. And really... it was. I can only imagine what it was like for you to live 20 years in that house."

She cringed, and some of the images that popped into her head confirmed it for me, "I see she only got worse with age. Twins?"

"You didn't know?"

I was at a loss for words. I had two more siblings I had never even met. "...No."

We sat in silence for awhile, but she broke it with an angry growl. I had been trying not to peek into her thoughts but chanced a glance - of course, she was thinking of Kurama. The first morning she was at the compound crossed her mind.

"How did you know about the text?" You used the shock from that that to push my memories through, didn't you? I hadn't expected Ran to understand so soon, but her anger was understandable. That was a very intimate moment for her, one that I honestly hadn't wanted to be eavesdropping on. Especially the night proceeding.

"I've been nearby. Not close enough for a full range of listening but with as loud as you are I didn't really need it," She hit my arm and looked way in embarrassment, probably realizing what I had overheard. I wasn't going to confirm it for her so I didn't have to relive it myself. "I saw the chance and we formed a plan around that. I had her send the message a few times, actually." I chuckled, remembering getting I miss you texts from Natsumi several times today. Even if it had been a part of the plan, teasing her in my replies had been enjoyable.

"It wasn't Yumi, by the way," I did my best to reassure her. I had, at least, been able to pick up that worry. "But I don't know who was texting him. Sorry, I wish I could answer that."

She seemed let down, but resigned. "I'm likely overreacting anyway. If this is even something I can react to anymore..." The events of months past filtered carefully through her cognition. She was trying to match up the real memories with the fake ones. "I still... I can't stay here. I can't see him again."

While I was happy that my plan had succeeded on at least one part, I was surprised by her answer. I could still feel her affection for him pour strongly through every thought she had of him. "I have a plan. We'd have to act pretty quickly though. Kuwabara will no doubt tell Kurama that I'm here the next time they speak. He's been calling daily to check up on you."

"What?" The look of shock on her face was worth revealing the information, despite the fact I was reluctant to do so. "...He hasn't even responded to any of my messages."

"That, I have no clue about. That leaves us with about 14 hours, though. One of them will wake us up and probably leave us to meditate. From there... Well."

She waited for me to continue, and then prompted me when I did not, "...Well, what?"

I flashed her a weak grin, pushing my glasses up the best that I could. "Have you ever been camping?"

AN: I have slept a total of three hours in two days. Not only that, I have three hours until I need to be at work. Glancing over this massive chapter, I'd say it's worth it. Well, there's Nagato. Ran's cool-on-the-outside-dear-god-help-me-on-the-inside big brother. I have waited years to introduce him. Deep breaths. I'm happy.

I know this chapter has almost no interaction with the YYH cast, and I'm sorry. But I needed to set up Nagato's mostly botched/flawed plans. The next few chapters are going to be my lesson on how best plans always go awry.

You guys may notice that I removed the AN's from the previous chapters, save a few that I deemed important for the story. I just couldn't deal with that much cringe, sooo... yep. Anyway. Thank you all for the patience!