"Thanks for getting back in touch. I'm really interested in that Youtube video you uploaded!" Kagome had finally found someone willing to talk… hopefully someone who could be paid a pittance. "Is there any chance I can offer you $50 for the unedited video? We'd also be happy to interview you!"
The frat boy on the other end of the line seemed to be excited enough about the "exposure" so "he could get his streaming career going" that he didn't pay much attention to exactly who Kagome worked for, which was all the better for her. She got his verbal agreement, and sent him the contract.
Sure, it was probably just sprite lightning, but… something pink and fluffy seemed to be peeking out of the little ring of light. And this dudebro, named "Nanushi," was certain that he saw a baby coming out of the hole in the sky. Kagome scoffed. Nanushi seemed to think that this one video was going to make him a famous demon hunter… like all the rest of them.
Working for Musashi World News was a blessing and a curse. The pay was garbage, but she got to define her own hours, which was really nice. She also got to choose her stories, but they had to fit the newspaper's "image," which meant they had to be tabloid fodder: the supernatural, "my mom was impregnated by an alien," blah blah blah. But, in the endless sea of trashy stories about sex with aliens and werewolves and vampires, Kagome sometimes found gems. True, the chupacabra was just the carcass of a goat, but… there was always something about the sightings and rumors of demons that drew her in. And once in a while, there was something to the rumors.
After all, reiki was real (she was one of those gifted with it), so, why not yōki too? And there were just too many strange episodes that seemed to involve demons for Kagome to look away. Perhaps that was why she took her journalism degree to this particular job—though that could also be explained by the shit job market. She was one of the lucky ones: her job came with health insurance and retirement, and a steady paycheck.
Not a big paycheck, but a steady one.
Maybe that was why Kagome had finally done it. Maybe that was why she had taken all the notes that she and Kikyō made while they were drunk and high and transcribed them. Maybe that was why she looked up the physics behind Kikyō's theories and pieced together what was missing (the free tutoring she snuck into NYU to receive helped a lot). And maybe, just maybe, that was why she uploaded the book. The 70/30 split was probably a bit on the cheap side, but Kagome had done all the work of turning the scribbles into a book after all, so it was more than fair!
And well… the sales had not been as substantial as she had hoped, but… at least some people had bought it? In fact, the only reason she knew about the weird sprite lightning event at 42nd St and 11th Ave was because someone had seen her book. It gave Kagome a tingle in the back of her neck, the same tingle that originally drew her to Kikyō. The tingle that meant there was something there, something that needed her to look further. Meeting Kikyō meant meeting someone else with the gift of reiki. And… looking at the ring of lightning that people swore a pink-haired baby tried to crawl out of was something Kagome was also meant to look into.
It whispered of the event ten years ago that she still thought about. The sprite lightning and the ring and a wisp of silver hair. The thing that Kagome returned to time and time again, the thing that stoked her interest in demons in the first place…
Kagome looked at her notes. She'd found 6 videos and 19 photos of the event. For some strange reason, the moment the little pink tuft appeared in the videos, every photo saturated. People said there was a baby, but no one caught it on camera.
It was so odd.
Kagome resolved to throw on her jacket and go investigate the site it supposedly happened at, after lunch. After she cashed her sweet sweet royalties check for $12.23.
An angry knock at her apartment door abruptly halted those plans. Kagome bolted upright, trying to figure out who was at the door. Was the guy who was convinced he was the reincarnation of Albert Einstein back? Or possibly the annoying neighbor who seemed to bring her weird homeopathic remedies as a way to get her to fall in love with him (...it wasn't working…)? She didn't really want to deal with either of them at the moment.
"Kagome! I know you're in there!" The growl that came from the other side of the door was familiar… all too familiar. Because it was a growl that Kagome had heard a lot during college.
Kikyō.
Kagome groaned, then started walking toward the door. Slowly. She probably should've texted her old roommate a head's up about the whole book thing, but… she hadn't. She convinced herself that it would be a fun surprise for Kikyō! Kagome had visions of their book hitting the bestseller list because who didn't want to learn about the demon world?
Another growl was followed by a louder knock. "Goddammit Kagome, this isn't funny!"
"Coming!" Kagome sang, even as her face held the type of scowl she usually saved for Albert Einstein man.
When she opened the door, she was not surprised at the narrowed icy eyes of her former roommate staring back at her. What she was surprised about, though, was that Kikyō, who was usually put together and polished, looked disheveled. Her hair, usually pin-straight and up in a perfectly coiffed style, was messy, thrown into a disheveled braid. Her usually immaculate outfit was sitting out of place, as if Kikyō had left wherever she was and stormed halfway across Manhattan in her anger. It was… hilarious.
Seven years after the last time Kagome saw her roommate, and for the first time ever, Kikyō looked a mess.
"It's been a long time," Kagome deadpanned. She was not going to laugh. She was not going to laugh. That would be rude.
"Um. Yes. Well. Perhaps we should have met up earlier…" Kikyō plastered a false smile on her face, but Kagome knew what was coming. "You know, a chance to catch up. Have coffee. Talk about a stupid book that you were considering publishing with my name on it so I could talk you out of it…"
"You haven't changed," Kagome grinned. Goddamn, it felt good to see her again. It had been way too long.
"Um, yes I have!" Kikyō huffed. "I have a Ph.D. now! A respectable job! I do not have time to chase demons."
"My mistake," Kagome drawled, moving aside as Kikyō stormed into her apartment.
She knew Kikyō had changed. They'd lost touch the moment Kikyō went off to graduate school. To study theoretical physics. She became a "doctor" and got all the pretension and snootiness that came with it.
Did Kagome miss her? Hell no! That wasn't why she published the book. She published Demons Among Us! because it was an excellent revenue stream for her. She published it because it meant she got more tips… like the ones about the baby in the sprite lightning. The ones that made her job easier. (One day, maybe—maybe—she would get a tip about a man with silver hair… not that she was doing this for that…)
It was definitely not because she missed her former best friend and roommate and shooting the shit until god-knows-o'clock about demons and reiki and yōki. About Kagome's strange experience in Central Park all those years ago. When something that brought that tingle to her spine and she saw the flash.
She missed playing reiki games with Kikyō. She missed talking to Kikyō.
But no. She wrote that book because of the revenue stream. And she included Kikyō as a co-author not to get Kikyō to finally reach out, but totally because… it was only fair for Kikyō to get credit.
"Why did you publish our weird book Kagome?" Kikyō finally asked, looking frustrated, but finally getting to the point they both knew she was going to make.
"It was an excellent revenue stream for me…" Kagome said (had she practiced that line? only a couple of times…), then sighed and added, "And some other things."
"What. other. things." Kikyō enunciated each word like she was punching Kagome in the face.
"Nothing." Kagome dodged the question.
"Kagome… my department chair came to my office and showed me this book that I didn't know existed," Kikyō pleaded.
"I thought that they sent you a check…" Kagome retorted. There wasn't time to feel guilty. She'd done what she had to do.
"For $5.24!" Kikyō shrieked, her composure completely breaking. "I might lose my job because you decide to publish a book from when we were young, drunk and stupid… for 5-fucking-24!"
Kagome gaped. Kikyō almost never used language that harsh. Apparently Kikyō really was upset about everything. And well… Kagome probably should have mentioned the whole writing a book thing…
"Back then… you didn't think it was stupid," Kagome mumbled into her hands.
"Back then, I didn't have a Ph.D. in physics," Kikyō huffed.
"And how exactly did your Ph.D. change your view of the theories we came up with?" Kagome narrowed her eyes, partly hurt, but partly acting on a hunch.
"They… it… well… I mean… modern physics is the study of things that are real Kagome, tangible," Kikyō lectured. "Not some supernatural daydreams of two very bored college students."
"And what does modern physics say about this?" Kagome raised her hand, focused her reiki into it and let it leak out as she twirled her fingers drawing a light pink neon flower in front of her.
"It… it…" Kikyō stuttered, then sighed. "It doesn't."
"Exactly!" Kagome crossed her arms, drawing her power back into her core. "So we do a thing that physics can't exactly explain. It is impossible to use physics to prove the existence of reiki. So… why is the demon dimension any different?"
"Because it makes me look like a crazy person!" Kikyō cried, her eyes wide and vulnerable. The facade had cracked.
"Oh! So I'm crazy? Is that what you're saying?" Kagome tried to keep her voice from getting shrill, but she failed.
"No!" Kikyō shouted back, then her shoulders slumped. "No. You're not crazy. And… we do do something that shouldn't exist according to what we know about physics. But… well…" Kikyō dropped her head. "I hate the way people looked at me. Back then. When I talked to them about this stuff."
"You've never gotten over it," Kagome realized. "You hid it—us—away so that people would accept you?"
"Well, look at you! You've tripled down on it all! You published my ideas and co-authored the book! You used my name to lend it credibility because you work for a supernatural tabloid!" Kikyō hissed.
What Kikyō had said was utterly cruel, but unfortunately, also utterly true.
That was the thing Kagome had been trying to hide from herself. She wanted to publish that book, but… she also wanted that book to be taken seriously. And, well, working where she worked, it wouldn't have been.
That realization was probably what prompted the tears to start pooling in her eyes.
"I'm sorry," Kagome murmured. "I'm so sorry Kikyō. I… I did exactly what you said."
Kagome felt a pat on her shoulder, so she looked up at her old roommate, her friend, the friend who she wrote a book and borrowed the reputation of.
"How about this. Let's publish it under pen names instead of real ones." Kikyō gifted Kagome with a gentle smile. "Let the ideas in there stand on their own. Not worry about reputations."
"Will… will you get to keep your job?" Kagome sniffled.
"Oh, for that you owe me. I hope you like grading physics Kagome," Kikyō answered sharply. "Given that the chair is about to make me teach the worst class in the physics department for his silence…"
Kagome recognized the olive branch. And she recognized something else too. Kikyō was offering reconciliation.
"Deal!" Kagome reached out her hand, and Kikyō took it.
Had it really been seven years? It really had been.
And… well… Kagome missed her. Missed their talks. Missed discussing whether, if when they stared into the abyss, something stared back. Kagome remembered that night in Central Park, feeling a flicker of energy, then the flash of silver hair and a man running away. Everything about it felt otherworldly, as if her reiki was screaming at her to connect to that moment, and find the person who appeared. But he was gone in a flash, leaving her wondering if she had seen or felt anything at all.
And no one believed her.
Except Kikyō.
No one let her believe it was a portal to another world instead of a hooligan throwing a pipe bomb.
Except Kikyō.
But, she was never able to prove anything was real, and then Kikyō left her too.
For all those years Kagome wandered, trying to find the space where she could keep having those conversations. Most people weren't interested. It took her finding the job at Musashi for her to finally find people who didn't immediately dismiss her belief that demons existed as folly, or fetishistic, or childish. And to some degree, it was only because Mr. Mushin was so eccentric himself that Musashi let her explore her demon obsession.
But today, the video in her hand was the first time she'd seen anything concrete that made her think, made her hope, made her believe that maybe she did see something that night. That maybe there was a demon realm out there, just waiting to be found.
She… she wanted to see if maybe… just maybe Kikyō would believe too, like she had all those years ago.
"Hey. Can… can I show you something?" Kagome tried not to sound desperate, she failed.
Kikyō narrowed her eyes, but stepped closer. It was enough of a signal for Kagome to continue.
"Someone sent this to me. It's… it's not like anything I've ever seen except…" Kagome sidled a little bit closer to Kikyō, her phone in her hand, the video from Nanushi fresh in her inbox. "What do you think?"
Kagome pressed play. The video was a bit better than the one on Youtube, but still definitely not IMAX. The sprite lightning was clear, but it lingered (something that certainly did not happen in electrical storms), and then there it was, the ring of light surrounding endless blackness, then a puff of pink, then nothing.
Kikyō had leaned in extremely close to the video, her eyes impossibly narrow. Kagome knew that look. It meant that Kikyō was intrigued, and baffled.
"You sure this isn't doctored?" Kikyō turned her gaze onto Kagome, a spark of interest arcing across them.
"Not completely, but… this is one of about a dozen I've found. It's the best. And the guy swears he saw a baby crawling out of that ring before it imploded," Kagome answered.
"A baby?" Kikyō's interest had turned to skepticism.
"I'm running the witnesses down right now. They don't know each other, and they all report nearly the same thing. Flash of red light, white ring surrounding blackness, pink hair, creepy baby, then poof. Gone." Kagome said it in the most matter-of-fact way she could, but… she was excited. Because she thought it was something real.
"Could be a really elaborate prank." Kikyō crossed her arms.
"I've been scouring 4chan, reddit, Youtube, everywhere and… nothing," Kagome countered. Surely Kikyō had more faith in her journalistic skills than that!
"So… then what do you think?" Kikyō shot back.
Kagome had her. She was interested.
"I think that was a portal. And I think that thing tried to crawl out to our side," Kagome squealed, elated she had someone to talk to about it.
"That's a lot Kagome," Kikyō sighed, but it was clear that her brain was thinking things through. "It is much more feasible that this was a Banksy prank."
"Sprite lightning? Strange wormhole? Creepy baby?" Kagome retorted. "I see it in your eyes, Kikyō: you suspect something weird is going on with this too. You can feel it."
Before Kikyō could say another word, there was a loud rapping on Kagome's door. It startled both women, who stared. But Kagome was always the one in the horror movies who would jump the fence or go in the basement, so she headed to her door.
When she opened it, a young woman with red-brown eyes, jet black hair which was tied up in an elaborate and messy bun, and she had jade earrings dangling from her delicate ears.
"You should be harder to find." The mystery woman stormed into the apartment. "Are you Kagome Higurashi?"
"Who's asking?" Kikyō blurted, throwing a suspicious look at Kagome.
Kagome gave Kikyō the slightest of shrugs. It was not every day someone strange barged into her apartment, but… it wasn't exactly never either. Working for Musashi World News sometimes brought strange characters to Kagome's door.
"Oh, hi. Kagura. Kagura Arashi." Kagura held out her hand confidently to Kikyō, obviously thinking that she was Kagome.
"I'm Kagome." Kagome stepped forward, taking Kagura's hand. "Pleased to meet you. So… is there a reason you're here?"
Kagura fumbled through her bag and pulled out a copy of Demons Among Us! and threw it to Kagome, "I saw something really weird. Something that has to do with this book."