Coffeehouse Conversations

Part two: Past the Bottleneck

By Funara

Disclaimer: Yare, yare, it doesn't belong to me, okay? No lawsuits please. :holds hands up in a placating gesture, sunglasses firmly in place:

Notes: This installment is a full three days late. I had this beautiful schedule worked out, and then I had to go play tennis four hours a day, and now I'm off schedule. The third chapter was due to be out today. I'm so sorry!

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"Yuusuke," said Keiko, "if you don't tell me where we're going, I'm going to smack you."

The boy didn't respond. Keiko put a hand to her forehead and gave up, continuing to follow him as he wound his way through the streets of Tokyo.

Yesterday, he'd shown up at her door, demanding to talk to her. But when she had questioned him, he'd glanced offhandedly at his watch, started, and then left, saying that it was too late.

At school today, no amount of threatening or cajoling could get it out of him. Yuusuke had been strangely reticent, though his eyes had gleamed strangely. Had his many vices finally induced his mind to leave him? Keiko doubted it—after all, although he'd checked on her multiple times during the day to make sure she didn't leave, that didn't mean he'd actually attended classes. He was the same old irresponsible Yuusuke.

The two of them finally stopped in front of a white brick building. Half of it was devoted to a café, and the other half to a bookstore. The name of the shop, Leaves of Cream, was written in flowing gold script across the top of the building.

Keiko blinked. This wasn't the kind of place Yuusuke usually visited. But he was already going in, so she followed. Surprisingly enough, Kuwabara was also there, waving from a table near the window.

Ten minutes later, Keiko sat down at the table, her latte before her. Yuusuke and Kuwabara sat across from her, having bought a mocha and a frappuccino, respectively. Only then did Keiko see the book on the table. She looked at it curiously, before looking up at the two boys.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Keiko asked, glancing between the two of them.

They looked at each other and nodded, as if all of this were part of some preplanned scheme. Keiko suspected it was so. Kuwabara mutely handed her the volume of manga.

"'Midnight Sun'? What's so important about—"

"Look at the last few pages."

The brown-haired schoolgirl did so, nonplussed. As she browsed, glancing at the pictures and dialogue, a spark of recognition burst into life inside her, and she blushed, closing the book. She looked up at Yuusuke and Kuwabara.

"Well?" Yuusuke demanded. "You read this, right?"

Giggling quietly, Keiko nodded.

"So…what is this? Are they dating or something?"

The serious look on her boyfriend's face and his solemn tone was too much to take, especially given his choice of words. The image of Hiei, dressed in his usual black and brandishing his sword, asking Kurama to see a romantic movie with him…Keiko burst into laughter. Yuusuke and Kuwabara stared at her.

"Oh Yuusuke," she got out, wiping away tears of mirth, "I'm not sure whether 'dating' is the right term."

"Well, that's what they're doing, isn't it?"

Keiko shook her head, still smiling. "They're demons, Yuusuke. They don't exactly 'date.'"

"How do you know? I'm a demon, and I've got you."

"Because Yukina-chan said so," answered Keiko matter-of-factly.

Kuwabara jumped, a previously unmade connection dawning on him. "Waitaminute! Yukina-san reads this manga—"

"Yes. I introduced it to her."

"—so that means that she's seen this—this—" Kuwabara gestured, horrified, towards the book lying on the table.

Keiko blinked. "Well, of course she has. That's how we—" Her eyes widened, and she laughed again.

Kuwabara seemed annoyed. "Don't laugh! You've corrupted Yukina-san by showing her this obscene doujinshi!"

Yuusuke joined in. "And you didn't tell me about this! Girls shouldn't read this stuff!"

The brunette raised an eyebrow. "Don't you lecture me, Yuusuke. What kind of manga do you read in your spare time, huh?"

Yuusuke sputtered indignantly. "That's different. And how did you find my manga collection anyway?"

"I found it while looking for bandages to wrap up your head from the time you tripped down the stairs at Genkai's temple."

"You looked inside my underwear drawer!"

"Yes I did." Keiko turned to Kuwabara with a much kinder expression. "Don't worry about Yukina-chan—she already knows all about sex and things like that. She is a demon after all. And what she didn't know, we told her." She smiled reassuringly, as if she hoped that she could fit Kuwabara's jaw, unhinged in shock, back into the rest of his face. "Yukina-chan told us a lot about customs in Makai. That's how I know that they don't date." Kuwabara groaned as his image of Yukina as the model of kind-hearted innocence dissolved. He snatched his frappuccino and gulped it, wishing he had some alcohol.

Yuusuke drank some of his mocha, his brief spell of embarrassment over. He wiped his hand over his mouth and addressed his girlfriend again. "Okay, so they don't date. What do they do then?"

"Why are you so interested?" Keiko wondered.

"Because they're my friends!"

"So why don't you ask them?"

Because I'm afraid of being choked to death by a giant flaming dandelion with fangs. Or something equally gruesome. He shuddered. "Because. Now tell me."

Keiko sighed. "Hasn't it occurred to you that maybe Kurama and Hiei haven't told you because they were afraid that you two would act like this?"

"No."

"Well, now it has. Look, all of us girls have known it for months now, and we never said anything."

Kuwabara lifted his head, a new wave of fear descending. "'All of us girls'? Does that mean my sister knows?"

Keiko nodded. Kuwabara banged his head on the table once then stopped. His fingers inched along the tabletop, searching for his drink.

Yuusuke watched the progress of his friend's quest for distraction before turning back to Keiko. "Since you seem to be an expert, and since we know about it now, why don't you tell me more?"

She shrugged. "I don't really know that much."

The black-haired boy was outraged. "But you said Yukina told you about it! And you read about it!"

"Yukina-chan told us about lovers' customs in Makai. She doesn't know that much about Kurama and Hiei's relationship."

"Fine, then what did Yukina say?"

"Well, for instance, most demons don't stay in a committed relationship for that long. And most of them are promiscuous. Actually," Keiko's cheeks reddened, "she said that one-night stands are the standard procedure."

Yuusuke scratched the back of his head. "So it's more about the sex than anything else?" He could feel himself blushing as well.

Keiko nodded. "But that doesn't mean there aren't exceptions. Yukina-chan knows of demons who stay together for hundreds of years. Most youkai fool around for a while, but eventually find a permanent lover. Botan-chan said that the records say that Kurama and Hiei are both pretty old, and they've known each other for a really long time, so chances are that they're mates. And Shizuru-san saw Kurama wearing a tear gem around his neck. You're supposed to give something important to your mate."

The young man before her said nothing, pensively staring out the window. Keiko's eyes softened, and she wondered if he were thinking the same thing she had thought. She and Yuusuke had been friends for as long as she could remember, and boyfriend and girlfriend for a few years now. Would they ever have a chance at the same sort of eternal happiness?

Unfortunately, Yuusuke, being the oblivious teenage boy that he was, was not thinking that at all. "Are they gay then?"

Keiko toppled out of her chair. Even Kuwabara stopped mumbling to himself to look up.

A moment later, she reappeared. "Is that all you can think of!"

He stared at her, boggled. "They're both guys, so I just thought that—"

The brown-haired young woman sat down and buried her head in her hands. Boys! Why can't they ever think of something meaningful? Apparently the thought that Kurama and Hiei were lifelong soul mates had not prompted any sort of mental thought train in Yuusuke. She lifted her head from her hands. Her boyfriend looked expectantly at her.

"No they're not gay, Yuusuke. Yukina-chan says that most demons don't really care about gender."

"So they're bi?"

She sighed. "You could say that."

"Hmm." He took a sip of his mocha. He had barely drunk to the bottom of the bottleneck. "So they're involved. I can take that." Yuusuke put the bottle down. "But that still doesn't explain why Toriyama Akira—no, wait a minute he drew Dragonball—"

"Toshimi Arina."

"Right. It doesn't explain how she found out about them. And who gave her permission to draw them anyway?"

The young woman shrugged. "I don't know."

Yuusuke turned his gaze to the window. Keiko sipped at her neglected drink.

"If I could ask this Toshima," Yuusuke began.

"Toshimi," Keiko corrected, wincing.

"Yeah, yeah. If I could talk to her, I could ask her how she found out. It is a matter of intra-world security, you know, between humans and demons."

Keiko privately thought that no one else would agree.

Yuusuke was nodding to himself. She draws this stuff, so maybe she knows why the heck they would be together. I mean, okay, so gender doesn't matter, but there're plenty of hot girls. What's wrong with girls? I like girls...actually the other day I saw this really hot chick at that bar…His thoughts drifted to an area oft-frequented by teenage boys.

Meanwhile, Keiko gazed quietly over Yuusuke's shoulder. Her eyes caught on a sign posted on the far wall. She blinked.

"Yuusuke."

He was pulled out of his undoubtedly lewd thoughts. "What?"

"Look at the sign behind you."

He swiveled obediently and read the sign. He stared and turned back, an enormous grin on his face. "Well, it looks like my problems are solved."

Keiko was already writing down the time and date posted on the sign. What a coincidence it was that Toshimi was going to do book signings at this very café, in three days' time.

Yuusuke kicked back. "I guess I'm just a lucky guy," he drawled. "All my problems solve themselves." He squinted one eye at Keiko. "What are you writing down? What I just said? I'm honor—"

"I'm writing down the date and time, Yuusuke no baka."

He deflated slightly. "Okay." Then he glanced at her suspiciously. "Why?"

She tucked the piece of paper into her pocket. "Toshimi is a famous mangaka. I'm not about to pass up the chance to meet her."

He didn't protest, surprisingly enough. He didn't want to bring up the issue of the contents of his own manga collection again. He looked up as Keiko collected her things. "Leaving?"

"I have to make dinner."

"Oh." Yuusuke glanced at Kuwabara, who appeared inactive. He poked him. He groaned. "Want to help me carry Kuwabara home?"

Keiko sighed and lifted one of the orange-haired boy's limp arms. "All right."

—to be continued—

toshima—a middle-aged or mature woman. You can see why Keiko winced.

Yuusuke no baka—something like "Yuusuke, you idiot"

Notes: I didn't like this chapter when I wrote it, but I guess it doesn't entirely suck. Your call, though. Keiko seems mainly in character, though I had a lot of trouble with her honorifics. I couldn't for the life of me remember what she called Kuwabara, or Yukina, or Kurama, or Hiei, so I made it up as I went along. Someone want to correct me? I know "Botan-chan" and "Shizuru-san" are right.

Otherwise…we get to see Yukina's knowledge in action! Reviews?