Coffeehouse Conversations

Part three: Essence of the Flavor

By Funara

Disclaimer: I own nothing that sounds familiar in this story. Except for the café. I own the café. Someday I'll build it…

Notes: Mocha, you deserve an abject apology. This story is far overdue, and I still have one part left. I'm sorry! But anyway, happy birthday to mocha cocoa, whose birthday was on the fifth!

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

When Yuusuke, Keiko and Kuwabara arrived at Leaves of Cream that Saturday afternoon, the entire place was already packed with fans and autograph hunters. The two boys, who had not had an inkling of Toshimi's popularity, gaped at the dozens of cosplayers spilling out of the doors and onto the sidewalk.

As they squeezed past two girls wearing wigs and male school uniforms, Yuusuke stared and turned to Keiko. "This is insane! There must be at least a hundred people here!"

The brunette was not surprised. "I told you she was popular. Let's find the end of the autograph line. Did you bring something for her to sign?"

"I brought the manga," came Kuwabara's voice as he appeared over the heads of a crowd of young boys. After trying to figure out how to get past them without knocking them out, he finally gave up and manually picked up a few and set them down behind him. Keiko and Yuusuke sweatdropped.

Using Kuwabara as a battering ram, the three of them waded through the human tide, aiming for the long line of fans and miraculously found themselves in front of the front counter. Yuusuke blinked. "How did we get here?" Not waiting for an answer, he continued, "Buuut, since we're here anyway, let's order some coffee. A mouka and a furapuchino and a la—lache—"

"A latte," Keiko finished. On Yuusuke's other side, Kuwabara was fighting for his personal space as multiple starving students crowded around the glass display case, discussing the cakes and inadvertently squashing the orange-haired young man.

Carefully clutching their plastic cups, they made their way onto the end of the line of Toshimi fans. And proceeded to wait. And wait. And wait.

One hour, nine cups of coffee, fifteen complaints and two beatings later, they finally arrived at the front of the line, bedraggled and weary. Yuusuke's green uniform had a large brown stain originating on the shoulder and running down his arm. There was a faint hand imprint on his cheek. Kuwabara, who had drunk the most coffee, looked as though someone had surgically enlarged his eyes and inserted extra blood vessels. Keiko merely looked annoyed, though her uniform sported a tan stain. It wasn't a pretty picture.

Yuusuke handed the volume of manga to the black-haired lady sitting at the table and managed a grin. She signed it and looked up, reaching to shake the young man's hand. "Thank you for co—"

She froze.

The background chatter continued as Toshimi abruptly realized who the three teenagers were. Then, she stood up and smiled broadly. "Urameshi-san!" She shook his hand vigorously, as Yuusuke, Keiko and Kuwabara looked on with amazement. "And Yukimura-san and Kuwabara-san!" Turning to her editor, Toshimi whispered a few words and addressed the three of them. "Please, I'd love to speak to you. Just wait a while until we can be done here, ne?" She indicated the burgeoning crowd.

"Uh…sure."

They moved automatically to find a table and sit down. When the throng had closed up again, insuring privacy, Keiko turned to Yuusuke. "How did she know you?"

He shrugged. "Beats me. One second she was thanking me, the next she was calling me by my name. What about you guys?"

Both of them shook their heads. "No idea."

A good hour and a half later, Keiko had fallen asleep with her head on Yuusuke's shoulder and Kuwabara had braved the still active mobs to bring back more coffee. Yuusuke watched the strangely garbed fans slowly drift out as Kuwabara discovered an obsession with frappuccinos.

Finally, when the last tenacious cosplayer had had her picture taken with Toshimi and had been ushered out, the staff began to clean up. Toshimi slid into a seat next to Kuwabara and smiled cheerfully, if a bit tiredly, at them. She was definitely Japanese-looking—small and short and slender, with short black hair pulled into a ponytail. But she also had an air of professionalism around her, accentuated by square-shaped black-rimmed glasses perched daintily on her nose. Her purple blouse and long black skirt were styled in the same semi-formal fashion.

Keiko awoke with a start when Yuusuke tapped her shoulder, and she rubbed her eyes sleepily before catching sight of the woman sitting across from her. "Oh! Toshimi-san!"

She beamed. "It's so nice to see all of you. What can I do for you?"

The three of them shared a glance before Keiko began. "Well…for one, we were wondering how you knew our names."

The mangaka smiled. "I figured you'd probably want to know that. It's very simple, actually. I used to read Yu Yu Hakusho."

A blank silence greeted her words. Toshimi grinned again. "Still don't get it, ne? There's a lot of explaining to do. Yu Yu Hakusho is the anime and manga series that I based my doujinshi off of. It chronicles Urameshi-san's adventures, from the day he saved Masaru onwards."

Yuusuke gaped. "But—then, everything is in there? Even—"

"Even how you came back to life and became a Reikai Tantei and fought all those youkai and saved the world a dozen times over, yes. It also follows the lives of some of the people you associate with. That's how I came to know about Hiei and Kurama."

Yuusuke leapt from his chair. "Then I was right! This is a security danger! We have to find this manga and destroy it and wipe everyone's memories—"

Toshimi shook her head, laughing. "I'm afraid not. This was released more than ten years ago. It's already very popular all over the entire world."

As Yuusuke sank back into his seat, overwhelmed, Keiko took charge. "But who drew it? And how did he or she find out? And why isn't everyone panicking if they know that there're demons everywhere?"

The dark-haired young woman folded her hands in front of her. "It's really simple, actually. A lot of manga is based off of the lives of real people. It's kind of a trade secret, but fans wouldn't believe it anyway. Yu Yu Hakusho is one of the reality-based ones. The reason Togashi-san found out about it—that's the mangaka's name, by the way—is because he stumbled across some government records during his…ah, computer hacker days. At least that's what he tells us. He thinks they used chip implants to keep an eye on you guys."

Kuwabara joined the conversation. "The government? They—they know about us? Why haven't they done anything then?"

"They've probably reviewed your files and decided that it's best to let things stay the way they are."

"And they're not going to try and manipulate us into doing something for them?"

Toshimi shrugged. "I couldn't say. So far, all they've done is hide all traces of the existence of Yu Yu Hakusho from all of you."

"What's it like?" Yuusuke demanded suddenly. "This documentary of my life?"

The former doujinshika held out her hands in a placating manner. "It's nothing terrible, just a third person perspective of all you've done. You have fans across the world because of it."

"But what about my privacy!"

"The government doesn't usually hold privacy in high esteem."

Yuusuke buried his head in his hands. "I always wanted to be a celebrity, but this…"

Keiko patted his shoulder. "Is the series still ongoing?"

"Oh no. It ended a long time ago. We're not being spied on right now." Kuwabara cast a surreptitious glance at the window.

When no more questions were forthcoming, Toshimi continued. "I know it must be strange to hear this. Is there anything I can do?" She looked between them.

"Actually, yeah, there is." Yuusuke had reappeared. "Uh…it's about your doujinshi."

"What about them?"

He scratched his head. "Well…Kuwabara and I read one, and then we realized that Hiei and Kurama were, um, lovers. And we wanted to know, well, why." Keiko shot him a this-isn't-your-business look. He ducked.

Toshimi was frowning. "It's difficult to answer that question. You see, we're only doujinshika, and so we view Hiei and Kurama based on what Togashi-san has represented in his manga. We can only speculate. The only thing we know for sure is that they're involved."

"Oh, okay. What do you think then?"

"What do I think? It's complicated, the way I view it. Have you read any of my doujinshi in full?"

"Uhh…no."

"I have." The three of them glanced at Keiko, who blushed. "Your art is so beautiful, and I really love your storylines."

The mangaka beamed happily. "Thank you. Then you know how I describe the relationship between Hiei and Kurama." Keiko nodded. "But Urameshi-san and Kuwabara-san don't." The two boys shook their heads. "All right, that's fine." She put a finger to her lips. "Well…I've always thought that Kurama was much darker than the way he's portrayed. There's no way he could have been the manipulative, ruthless thief that he was without altering his outlook on life. So the way I see it, he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants, even if he has to kill or ra—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Yuusuke held up his hand. "I think you've got it backwards. Hiei's the evil, merciless guy. Yeah, Kurama used to be a scary demon, but he's not that way anymore. He was trying to save his mom when I first met him. I don't think he would do that if he were cruel and uncaring."

Toshimi shrugged. "This is my view. Maybe you're right. But I think that the Kurama you know isn't really the real one—someone as old as him probably has thousands of facets and intricacies. In any case, when he wants something, he intends to get it. Hiei, for example. To get Hiei to love him, he might do all sorts of extreme things. I don't know whether anything I've drawn would actually happen, but it could get to the point where Kurama would use Yukina's safety to get Hiei to have se—"

"Okay!" Yuusuke said loudly, large beads of perspiration forming on his face. Keiko glared at him. "Erm, I mean, sorry for the interruption, but we get it now. Really. Kurama is calculating and evil." Toshimi smiled at the boy's discomfiture. "So…what about Hiei? Is he secretly sweet and clueless and does he enjoy tiptoeing through tulips?"

"Not really," she said mildly. "Hiei is used to the ways of demons. Whatever bargain he has to make to ensure his sister's safety and to keep Kurama's friendship, he'll make it. He counts on Kurama as one of the few comrades he has, so as long as Kurama doesn't break his promises, it's fine."

"Hmm…I guess that makes sense…" Yuusuke trailed off.

Toshimi sipped at a cup of tea that had materialized on their table in the course of conversation. "There's probably more to it, and I do elaborate, but I'm not sure you want to hear it." Yuusuke and Kuwabara, who had been silent, both shook their heads rapidly. Toshimi laughed. "I'll tell you about other theories then. Some doujinshika believe that Hiei and Kurama really do love each other and that they'll always be faithful to each other, which is very sweet. Others think the demonic tradition of promiscuity is a difficult obstacle. Some think they're just friends with benefits."

"That's…weird," said Kuwabara. "I mean, these are guys we've known for years now. To think that they might be completely different than the way we know them…" He shook his head.

"Why don't you just ask them directly then?" she asked. "It'll clear up any misconceptions you might be getting."

"I said that same thing," interjected Keiko. "But they don't want to."

"Well, I don't want to die," said Yuusuke. "I didn't survive multiple near-apocalypses to end up being killed by my friends for asking if they were lovers or not."

"I doubt if they'll kill you," Toshimi answered. "They're not that extreme. Just ask them."

"Well…maybe," Yuusuke hedged. A car horn sounded outside.

"I think you should," the mangaka said, getting up. "But I have to go now—the car's here, and I have to catch a plane." The three teenagers stood up. "It was very nice meeting all of you,"—she shook their hands—"and I hope everything goes well." She walked to the door, opened it, waved goodbye and left.

Keiko watched her go. Kuwabara turned to Yuusuke. "I think she's right. We should go ask them."

Yuusuke looked alarmed. "Aren't you the one who keeps insisting that Hiei is after your life? Why give him a reason to utilize one of the methods on his 'Gruesome Ways to Kill Kuwabara' list?"

The orange-haired boy shrugged. "You're the one who wanted to find out in the first place. Don't back out now."

He contemplated this barb to his courage before looking resigned. "Fine, fine. But if I get incinerated, you're scooping up every last ash and putting them in a shiny box. And someone better say something nice at the funeral."

—to be continued—

Notes: This is pathetic of me, but thanks to mocha for providing information for the writing of her own birthday fic. :groan: I'm such an idiot that I decided to plunge into a description of Toshimi's Hiei and Kurama with a very small acquaintance with her doujinshi. I'm doing penance as I type this. :sob:

Also, a great deal of the material in this chapter, like the appearance of Toshimi and the government tracking the tantei's activities with chip implants, is purely my own invention. Don't take my word for it…a.k.a. don't sue me when the Japanese government proves that it really has no information on Kurama's past.

One more part left! And yes, Anomura, you were right. Hiei and Kurama will make their appearance in the next and last part.

And, I'm really sorry to those following my other stories, but school is my priority right now, and I just don't have time to write. I promise though that none of my stories are on hiatus and that I am alive and kicking and that new chapters will appear at some point. So, keep reviewing, ne?

Oh, and, look! It's been one full year since I posted my first story.