Chapter 7: "Training and Teacups"

X

As far as rooms obtained during periods of extreme duress were concerned, Rei's quarters at Genkai's temple compound in the boonies were pretty nice, probably.

Not that she was an expert at such matters; Rei had never been on the run from demons before, and certainly not from ones determined to eat her eyeballs. Did people on the run from demons typically wind up housed in a lovely Shinto temple far from civilization, or was she unique in that regard? She wasn't sure, although she had to suspect she was. Her current predicament seemed, at least to her, quite unique indeed.

Anyway. Enough about that. Rei distracted herself from the indignity of the situation by analyzing her living arrangements. Genkai had shown her to her room shortly after Rei's first encounter with the enigmatic Himiko. The room lay behind a sliding paper door—the fancy kind Rei had only once seen in an old-fashioned tea room—and comprised a good number of tatami mats. The room contained no furniture besides an antique dresser, but a door along the far wall opened onto a small courtyard complete with a raked sand garden, trickling fountain and one of those bamboo deer-scare thingies Rei couldn't recall the name of. A shishi komoshi? A shiki oboshi? Rei supposed it hardly mattered, and as she listened to it tap sharply against a rock with a boisterous "doink" noise, she resolved to tear it to pieces as soon as possible. It might've been pretty and fancy or whatever, but damned if Rei would let it keep her up at night.

But despite her creative alterations to Genkai's landscaping, Rei still had a hard time sleeping that night. Sure, her futon's thick down mattress was comfy as hell, and sure, her pillow was perfectly fluffy, and yeah, the spring breeze drifting in from the garden's open door felt great on her face… but she couldn't stop thinking about the redhead, who was apparently a fox.

A fox! Rei thought as she tossed and turned. A fox whose words were as pretty as his face. Obviously Himiko's cryptic warning applied to him specifically. And Himiko could see the future, so she clearly knew what she was talking about. But Kurama seemed nice, and he'd been so helpful thus far. Was Himiko right about him? Could Rei not chance trusting him the way she wanted to? The way she wanted to trust everyone at the temple in the mountains.

Rei fell asleep thinking these thoughts and listening to the wind stir the sakura tree outside her room, body sinking deeper and deeper into her futon (so fluffy!) with every slow, relaxing breath. Soon her mind danced with dreams, and even from within their depths, Rei knew this was some of the best rest she'd had in a long while.

Pity she couldn't sleep in the next day and, y'know… enjoy it?

Genkai came for her in the morning like a whirlwind and forced Rei to dress, bleary-eyed and bellicose, and join Genkai on a many-miled run through the woods surrounding the temple. Rei, as it's probably obvious, hated every last damn second of the experience save for the moment they emerged from the woods and beheld the temple. An end is in sight! Rei thought… but then Genkai dragged her back into the woods and shoved her, fully dressed, under a very cold waterfall (a pretty one she would've loved to look at under other circumstances) and commanded her to meditate.

Needless to say, it sucked ass—especially because Genkai made her take her wig off beforehand.

Genkai had the decency not to say anything about Rei's hair (or lack thereof). All she did was shoot a quick look at Rei's patchy scalp, eyes betraying not even a sliver of emotion. But still, Genkai saw Rei's head, and the shame and anger at this indignity kept Rei somewhat warm as she shivered beneath the roaring waterfall. More people had seen her naked head in two days than in the past two years combined, and she was not happy about it. Rei did consider herself lucky that Genkai had allowed her to pencil on her eyebrows that morning before they'd embarked on their run, not to mention that she'd thought to draw her brows in waterproof pencil.

Things could've been worse, she told herself as her teeth chattered and her freezing back began to ache like the pain of childbirth. Thanks to her quick eyebrow work, Rei had only had to suffer one indignity that morning (or two, if you counted that she hadn't had time to put on her usual false eyelashes).

Still… Rei wasn't the forgiving sort, and when Genkai snapped at her to focus, she pinned the old lady with a glare as hot as the waterfall was cold.

"I t-take it all b-b-back," Rei said through her chattering teeth. "You're n-not the c-c-coolest ever. Y-your temple s-sucks. Running s-sucks. This w-w-waterfall s-sucks. Everything sucks!"

Genkai, perched on a nearby rock smoking her pipe, didn't bother to look in Rei's direction. In fact, she kept her eyes shut when she snarked, "Your energy would be better-spent on concentrating than on hating me."

"You s-s-s-s-s-s-su-SUCK!"

"I heard you the first time. I might be old, but my hearing is excellent." One eye opened just a crack. "Now let's test yours."

"… f-fine."

"I said test your ears, not your mouth." When Rei didn't speak after a minute or two, Genkai continued on. "Now concentrate on the cold. On the way it tightens the muscles. The way it settles deep in your bones. Take hold of that feeling, Yamato. Take hold of the cold."

Rei grit her teeth. "T-t-trying."

"Do you have it?" Genkai said, after giving Rei a moment to collect herself.

"M-maybe?" said Rei, unsure.

And she wasn't the only one. "Maybe's not good enough," Genkai barked. "Have it or don't. There is no 'maybe.'"

"F-f-fine, Yoda," Rei snapped back. And because she was sick and tired of this and just wanted it to be over, she told Genkai a lie: "I have it."

Genkai, if she doubted Rei, didn't say so aloud. She just said, "Now push it out of you. Take it and force it out of your skin. Make room for warmth again."

Rei, to her credit, tried. She tried her very best, dammit, to channel Genkai's nonsense and do as the old woman asked. But she only felt cold as she sat under the roaring water, the leaden temperature turning her muscles to lead and her brain to a foggy, pained lump half a foot above her shoulders.

How could anyone feel anything when they were so damn cold? she wondered, and soon she shook so hard from chill, her limbs almost convulsed.

Genkai took pity on her eventually (very eventually; reprieve could not come soon enough for Rei). After at least two hours beneath the cold and unfeeling waterfall, Genkai allowed Rei to exit the roaring water and lay upon a nearby boulder in the sunshine to warm herself—and she even allowed Rei to put her wig back on. Rei thought this meant Genkai must feel sorry for her indeed, and about that, she wasn't entirely wrong. She pretended not to notice the way the old lady stared at her as she lay upon her rock, sunshine coaxing feeling back into her fingers and toes. She pretended not to notice, and she felt relieved when at last Genkai stopped studying her and looked away.

"Why the waterfall, anyway?" Rei grumbled, massaging her limbs to chafe warmth back into them. "What's the point?"

Genkai blew a plume of smoke from between her wizened lips, tobacco scent rich upon the air. "Tell me how you feel, Yamato."

"Well, kinda like garbage, if I'm behind honest." And she was; she hoped Genkai felt at least a little sorry about it. "I ache from the run and my feet hurt and I'm cold as hell and stiff—"

Genkai jabbed at Rei with her pipe. "That's the point. The ache. The chill. You're aware of your body in a way you weren't before because it's hurting in ways you're not used to. Like you've exercised a muscle that normally stays dormant."

"OK…?"

"Spirit energy, despite its name, is produced by a combination of the body and the soul," said Genkai. She puffed on her pipe for a moment, silent. "Learn to control the body, to feel the way it reacts and moves, and you become one step closer to accessing the spirit."

"So it's like… push to your limits and you find the energy within?"

"Yes." Genkai frowned. "Did someone explain this to you already?"

"Nah," said Rei with a grin. "I've just seen a lot of kung-fu movies."

"This isn't a movie, kid. Demons are after you."

"What, you think I forgot that little detail?" said Rei most testily, but Genkai only shook her head.

"At least try and take this seriously," she said (or commanded, if Rei wanted to get technical about it). "If we can learn to access your spirit energy, you can use it to sense things around you." When Rei looked wholly disinterested by this idea, Genkai leaned toward her to stress, "Things like sources of energy, for instance."

And at last Rei understood. "Like demons!" she said, pieces clicking into place. "So I could sense the ones coming after me. And maybe get some warning, next time they try eating my eyeballs."

Genkai smirked. "Now you're getting it."

"But do you think this will help me tell fortunes better?" Rei pressed. "Or on purpose, at least?"

"It could," said Genkai after a moment's pause. "But then again, what do I know? It's not like I tune into The Fountain of Aura every weekday afternoon."

"Me neither." Rei stuck out her tongue. "Too hokey."

"And dressing up like an eastern European mystic when you tell fortunes isn't?"

"Ouch, Genkai. Aim for my metaphorical balls next time, why dontcha."

"Hmmph. Maybe later." Genkai hopped off her rock with far more dexterity than a little old lady should've been capable of—or so Rei would've thought if she hadn't seen Genkai run for miles without breaking a sweat only a few hours prior. Tapping ash from the bowl of her pipe before stowing it in her robes, Genkai said, "For now, though, we should head back."

"Thank god," Rei groaned.

"Don't celebrate yet," said Genkai. "You have a visitor."

Rei's heart leapt into her mouth at the sound of Genkai's creaky words, for a split second thinking her eyeball-eating villains had showed up to spirit her away or something, but she needn't have worried. Instead, a very familiar figure stood in the temple's front courtyard, and upon seeing him, Rei let out a cry of delight.

"Oh my god, Takeshi!"

"Rei-chan!" said the aforementioned Takeshi as he spun around to face her—but when he saw Rei standing behind him, clothes soaked through to the skin, he did a double-take. "What the? Why are you all wet?"

She jerked a thumb at Genkai. "Old lady is nuts, that's why."

Takeshi followed her thumb and looked at Genkai—and then he did another double-take, almost dropping the large cardboard box clutched tightly in his arms. Hastily he dumped the box into Rei's hands, ignoring her as she gave an indignant squawk. He was too busy bowing at Genkai, fully doubled over in submission, to pay Rei any special attention.

"My name is Kazuki Takeshi and I am a legal demonic immigrant here of my own volition!" he babbled, voice high with nerves. "I have never harmed a human being and only wish to live a peaceful—"

But Genkai just scoffed. "Save it, demon boy; I'm retired." The crone tucked her hands behind her back as she walked away, chuckling under her breath. "To think even after all this time, demons still remember me…"

"… oh." He straightened up, watching her walk away uncertainly. "Oh, OK. Good. Good?" When Genkai didn't turn around and, like, attack him (or whatever he'd clearly been expecting), his shoulders sagged with outright relief. Sighing, Takeshi clutched at his heart and murmured, "Because when Rei-chan told me who she was with, for a minute I thought I might be walking right into an ambush!"

Rei grunted and set the box on the ground, but only so she could put her hands on her hips. "You ever gonna tell me how you knew her name?" she asked, one toe tapping impatiently at the flagstones below.

The previous night, Rei had called Takeshi from the landline on a table in Genkai's… office, probably? She wasn't sure what to call it, but it held a huge wooden desk, lots of bookshelves, and at least seventeen videogame systems hooked up to an assortment of flat screen TVs. While Genkai watched Rei like a hawk, Rei had called Takeshi, who had listened to her request with his typical good cheer—only when she told him where to go and who owned the temple where she'd be staying for the next week or two, he got really cagey, fast.

"G-Genkai?" he'd said, voice trembling unsteadily through the phone's static-fogged connection. "Are you sure that's her name?"

"Uh. Yeah?" She looked to Genkai for confirmation, who nodded. "Yes, I'm sure her name is Genkai. Why?"

"No-reason-I'll-see-you-tomorrow-OK-bye!"

He spoke so fast and hung up so swiftly, the dial tone sounded almost in unison with his final word. Rei had returned the phone to its cradle with jaw dropped, half wondering if he's even bother to show up the following day.

But back in the present, there he was, staring off after Genkai and looking a little pale, wringing his hands so hard it looked like he wanted to break his own fingers (an idea at which Rei thought, ouchies). Whatever his problem with Genkai was, he clearly took it very seriously… but then again, he'd babbled something about being a legal demonic immigrant when he saw Genkai, and that sounded pretty freakin' serious in Rei's book.

She nudged him with her elbow when he didn't reply right away. He jumped a little, but then he shook his head.

"Well, um… can we not talk about it here?" he muttered.

"Oh. Um. Sure," said Rei. "Think you can stay for lunch?"

He shot the temple a worried look. "I'd better not."

"But you came all this way!" Rei protested. "You're going to head back tonight? That's a long trip to take in a day."

"Oh, I won't be going home!" he said, a smile scattering some of the clouds in his eyes. "Rikako came out with me. We're staying at a really romantic inn and going sightseeing tomorrow."

"Aw, that's nice!" said Rei, meaning it. Looping her arm through Takeshi's, she led him back toward the stairs descending into the woods and toward the highway beyond. "Well, let's not keep her waiting. At least let me walk you back to the gate."

That suited Takeshi just fine. He chattered as they strolled down the steps, but as soon as they got a decent ways away, he shut up. Face darkening, Takeshi looked left, then right, eyes roving restlessly across the trees. Shadows cast by the leafy canopy overhead dappled his face with pips of dark, eyes glimmering in the fitful light.

"They treating you OK back there?" he said.

Rei frowned. "Yeah, sure. They're taking good care of me. Why?"

"You've, uh." Rubbing the back of his neck, Takeshi confessed, "You've fallen in with a pretty interesting crowd. And I'm not just talking about Genkai."

"OK, enough with the secrecy. Spill." Pulling her arm free of his, she stooped on the stairs to glare up at her friend, fists back on her hips in defiance. "How do you know about her, anyway? No more avoiding the question, you hear me?"

Takeshi nodded in defeat, although he still hesitated before saying, "She's… kind of a boogeyman to demons. Or at least she was. She was the powerful human psychic all demons who came to Human World knew to fear. A revered mystic and renowned spiritualist with fists of fury." Takeshi gulped. "Genkai, the demon slayer."

His words—almost reverent, definitely full of fear—rendered Rei momentarily speechless (not an easy feat). Eventually she gathered her wits enough to say, "Wow. She really is a badass." Shaking herself, because idolizing someone Takeshi thought was scary seemed shitty, she added, "So that's why you were freaking out? I don't blame you."

"Yeah." Takeshi drew in a deep breath. "Took a lot of willpower to come up here, to be honest." He smiled, although some tension remained around his eyes. "But you're all human, so you don't have anything to fear from her. It's the others you'll need to worry about."

One of Rei's penciled-on eyebrows lifted. "The others?"

Both of Takeshi's brows shot up. "They haven't told you?"

"Told me what?"

Takeshi gaped at her a minute, but he eventually recovered, running a hand over his soft brown hair. "Um… Urameshi Yusuke. Kuwabara Kazuma. The legendary bandit Kurama. Not to mention some of their friends in Demon World. They all have… a reputation," he said, choosing each word with care. "And it's even bigger than Genkai's."

"The legendary bandit… Kurama?" Rei blinked, slotting this new information into place alongside everything else she'd learned (and there was a lot to process). "Wait. You know Kurama?"

"Not many demons don't know Kurama," said Takeshi, "or Urameshi, or even Kuwabara, for that matter."

"Oh. Wow." Rei grabbed the front of her wig and tugged, settling it back into place on her scalp (although it hadn't been out of place before then, revealing the origin of this gesture as a nervous tick). "Sorry if I look a little shell-shocked. You didn't say anything about them the night they showed up, so I'm just trying to figure out why you're only telling me this now."

"Hey, give me some credit!" Takeshi protested, offended. "They didn't say their full names. 'Kurama' is what stuck in my head, and then I put 'Yusuke' and 'Kuwabara' together with it a little while later. It's not like I've ever seen them in person!"

That made sense, Rei supposed, but only in the same strange way nothing made sense anymore. Still, she nodded and adjusted her wig again. Putting on a brave face and just rolling with these increasingly ridiculous punches (So ridiculous! Rei thought) was getting easier, albeit too slowly for her tastes.

"So what's this big reputation of theirs?" she asked eventually. "I mean, I knew they had to be somebody considering they saved me from the jaws of death the way they did, but…"

Takeshi averted his eyes. "You're gonna have to ask them. Specifically Yusuke."

"Yusuke?" Rei repeated. "Mister 'I-Haven't-Set-Foot-in-a-Library-Except-in-Porn' Yusuke?"

"I… don't know what that means," Takeshi said, looking the teensiest bit horrified. "But yeah. Him." He hesitated, but soon admitted: "I don't think I'm allowed to go speaking for him."

"Allowed?" Rei said, incredulously repeating him again. "What do you mean, allowed?"

Takeshi threw up his hands. "Just talk to him, all right?" he said, heatedly this time, and Rei knew better than to argue. She demurred with hands upraised, backing away a pace upon the temple steps.

"OK, OK!" she said. "Sheesh. Don't bite my head off!"

He winced and apologized, though she told him he didn't need to (and she actually meant it; Rei knew what it felt like to have your life trotted out for others to gawk at without your permission, and she would not subject anyone else to that ordeal if she could help it). Looping her arm back through Takeshi's, she resumed their walk down the stairs, companionable silence falling between them as they strolled beneath the canopy overhead.

"Rei-chan," Takeshi said after a minute or so. Offering her a smile and patting her hand, Takeshi promised, "It'll be all right. In fact, you're lucky you ran into them when you did. If anyone can help you, it's gotta be them."

But Rai wasn't convinced, head hanging as heavily as the weight that had gathered in her chest. "Was it luck, though?" she murmured—and Takeshi heard her, although she hadn't quite meant for him to.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "What else would it be?"

Rei shrugged. "If these people are as important as you're hinting they are, what're the odds that I ran into them when I did? Them, out of everyone in Tokyo, and right when I needed them, too?"

For a minute, Takeshi said nothing.

Then: "Good question."

They walked the rest of the way to the highway in silence, birds chirping and the wind in the trees the only soundtrack to their trek. Rei kept her eyes down, cast on the leaf-strewn stone they traversed together. She had a hunch that meeting Kurama and the others hadn't been entirely coincidental. She wasn't sure why she had that hunch, but she did, and that was that. But if it hadn't been a gigantic coincidence to run into people who could help her, what was the alternative? Who had pulled the strings that had brought them together, in the end?

Rei didn't know.

But she had another hunch (another hunch that felt more like certainty than speculation) that a certain ancient spirit living inside a certain ancient mirror might have some idea.

Soon Rei and Takeshi reached the very bottom of the steps, where a car sat parked on a gravel shoulder to the left of the asphalt road. The road overlooked a cliff, a valley spilling green and glorious into the distance below. More mountains limned the horizon, gray and white and green peaks spearing the sky like the hands of grasping titans. When a wind blew by, Rei shivered, her still-damp clothes clinging to her skin like the gaze of a watching demon.

Damn. A watching demon? Rei's recent brush with demon-induced death was making a poet out of her…

Turning to Takeshi, Rei tried to set her unease aside as she said, "Hey, man. Can I ask you something totally different?"

"Sure." Takeshi turned toward her, hands in his pockets, warm smile on his face. "Anything."

"Today Genkai was… I dunno, training me?" Rei rubbed at the back of her neck before adjusting her wig, giving the lace-front two swift tugs. "She was trying to get me to feel spirit energy, and it just… it felt really hokey and weird."

"And you want my advice?" Takeshi said, pointing one bewildered finger at his face.

"Well, yeah!" Rei said. "Of course! You're the only person I know I can trust who also knows about stuff like this!"

Takeshi appeared pleased by that little factoid, straightening up with a smile. "Well, spirit energy and demon energy aren't exactly the same, but they're probably similar enough?" he said, gamely trying to answer Rei's questions. "I don't use mine much, if ever. Not really the fighting type."

"You're a lover, I know." Rei rolled her eyes while Takeshi laughed. "But do you think her training will actually do me any good?"

"Well, what is she having you do?" Takeshi asked.

Rei explained, telling him the tale of their many-miled run, hours under a waterfall, and sundry. She paid special attention to the weirdness under the waterfall. Feeling her body so she can connect with her spirit, as Genkai had suggested she do, seemed like an obvious paradox in Rei's book, and she said so.

But Takeshi was of a different mind. Stroking his chin in the wake of her description, Takeshi slowly murmured, "From the sound of it… yeah. Maybe that kind of training will help, yeah."

"Really?" said Rei, unable to keep the dismay from her voice.

"Why do you look disappointed?"

"Because I'm gonna have to go back under the damn waterfall and she made me take my wig off!" Rei groused. "Can you at least tell me why you think she's on the right track? So I can bitch and moan about it in an informed way, at the very least?"

Takeshi thought about it for a minute before taking a deep breath, pointing at Rei and commanding: "Raise your right hand."

"Uh, why? What the hell?"

"Just do it, OK?"

And so, Rei did as Takeshi asked, right arm lifting high over her head. Takeshi gave her a curt nod at the sight, arms crossing over his burly chest.

"Very good," he said. "Now tell me how you did that."

"I, uh… I just sort of did it?" Rei said, not sure what the hell kind of answer he was expecting.

But Takeshi shook his head. "Did you think a command at your arm?"

"No," said Rei impatiently. "I just moved it exactly the way anybody moves."

"And that's exactly what using energy is like!" said Takeshi. "You don't think of anything; you just do. All action, no theory." When Rei just stared at him, nonplussed, Takeshi added, "Genkai is basically just teaching you to be aware of a limb you didn't know you had." He flexed an arm to demonstrate. "Once you find it, it's yours to wiggle as you see fit."

"That makes sense, I guess?" said Rei.

But she didn't say it with much heart. Takeshi, bless him, noticed, as he always noticed when Rei wasn't feeling like her usual bombastic self. Taking her hand, he offered her a sympathetic smile, squeezing her fingers lightly with his giant ones.

"I'm sorry all of this is happening to you, Rei-chan," he said. "Really, I am."

"Thanks." She tried not to let her voice crack, although she mostly failed. "It's good to see a friendly face, by the way. This whole thing has been…"

Rei trailed off, because her voice wasn't the only thing that cracked. Her mask of humor and confidence and big, bright, loud enthusiasm had cracked a little, too, revealing the stress her volume so often tried to drown out, and no amount of wig-adjustment could help ameliorate that hurt. Takeshi knew that look of Rei's when he saw it, and without a word he pulled her into a hug. She returned the hug after a moment, sniffling into his shoulder as he stroked the back of her wig.

"Thanks," she mumbled against his arm. "For just being here."

"Don't mention it, Rei-chan." Takeshi only let go when she did, waiting for her to break the contact first. Smile earnest as a spring day, he said, "I'm here whenever you need me. OK?"

Rei kept her eyes downcast, not wanting him to see the tears welling in them. "It's just… one minute I'm going to classes and telling fortunes, and the next my whole world gets blown wide open—and then my normal little world turns into three worlds and other species and real life powers." Here she rolled her eyes, humor-forged shield falling back into place. "What the hell kind of garbage is that, I ask you?"

"Yeah. That's a lot," said Takeshi. "I mean, I've never not known about it, but learning to use the TV was hard when I first came here, so…" He mimed mashing buttons on a TV remote. "All those little buttons. The color settings. Not for the faint of heart, y'know?"

Rei couldn't help but laugh. Takeshi was talking about TV remotes being scary when he was this big, scary guy complete with ram horns and arms like tree trunks, and the contrast of that just got to her somehow. But then again, maybe that was the point, because at the sound of her laughter, Takeshi's grin lit up his blocky face like neon lights.

"You'll be all right, Rei-chan," he said as she giggled. "You know, you were the reason I decided to stay in Human World."

Rei's laughter died. "What do you mean?" she asked, curious. "And really?"

He nodded gravely. "Demon World is a real dog-eat-dog place, y'know? And it's like you said: I'm a lover, not a fighter. So when the barrier between the worlds came down some years back—"

"The barrier?"

"Ask Urameshi. He had a hand in it."

"He what?"

"Just ask him," said Takeshi with unyielding firmness. "But basically, what you need to know is that as soon as demons were allowed to come here, I was first in line to immigrate over. Most demons came here for the same reasons I did, too: To find someplace safe. To escape the demon-eat-demon food chain. To just live, in a way we can't in Demon World."

Rei stilled, the beat of her heart rocking her gently in place like a wave pitching a boat on an ocean tide. Takeshi bore a faraway look in his eyes, staring out over the valley below them as if he couldn't quite see it. His large fists had tightened at his sides, mouth a thin line of angst across his face—a line made of memories he'd rather forget, but ones he drew to the forefront for the sake of his friend, Rei.

"Sure, Human World has its dangers," Takeshi continued as Rei watched, breath held tight inside her chest. "But it's nothing like Demon World. And that's scary in its own way." His expression warmed, the faintest of smiles returning to his eyes. "I didn't know anybody when I came here. I didn't have any family or friends, and blending in was hard. Figuring out the culture was hard. I almost went back to Demon World, even though living there nearly killed me more than once. So when I saw that sign on your door, saying you'd tell fortunes and dispense advice from the stars, I thought… it reminded me of home." He shrugged, sheepish. "It wasn't as mundane as the rest of Human World, even if the way you told fortunes was totally weird. The incense and the cards were just plain silly, but still, I let you read me... and your advice actually helped." He looked as surprised as she felt, hands spreading in surrender. "Next thing I knew, we were friends, I had a job, I was getting along with people better, I got to know Rikako, and then we started dating each other… and suddenly, this place wasn't so bad, after all. Suddenly, it felt like home."

A lump had built in Rei's throat as Takeshi spoke. It grew even bigger when he pinned her with a glowing smile, one lit from within by a joy that warmed her more completely than even the afternoon sun in the bright blue sky above. She couldn't help but return it, tears threatening once again.

"All of that is thanks to you and that power of yours," Takeshi said. "I hope Genkai's training works. Because you helped me, and I know you could help so many more demons if you could."

Rei took a deep breath. "Thanks, Takeshi," she said, voice holding remarkably steady. "I think I really needed to hear that."

Takeshi flushed, pleased. "Aw, shucks, Rei-chan."

"Say hi to Rikako for me?" Rei said, hugging him around the neck.

"Will do," said Takeshi. "Call me if you need anything? Left all my contact info in that box for you."

"Thanks," Rei said. "And you know I will."

It was true, what she said. She'd call him a lot in the coming days, for guidance and for comfort. He was her best friend. He couldn't get rid of her if he tried—and she had no intention of going anywhere.

Well. Anywhere except back up to the temple, that is. Rei sighed after Takeshi drove off, glaring at the steps leading back the wat she'd come as if she could glower them into submission.

"I fucking hate stairs," Rei muttered—and without another word, she began the long, slow, arduous climb to Genkai's temple.

XXX

Kurama merely wanted a cup of his favorite loose-leaf tea and the kitchen's typical peace and quiet.

What he got, instead, was a kitchen occupied by both Yamato and Genkai, and all the chaos that came with them.

The pair was mostly alone, if you counted only sentient beings and not the bronze mirror sitting at Yamato's elbow. The mirror was accompanied by a large cardboard box that occupied almost half of the kitchen table. The rest of said table was covered in a random assortment of items Kurama vaguely recognized from Yamato's apartment, specifically the following: a pair of jade chopsticks resting atop a stack of dirty, sticky dishes; a deck of tarot cards; some wooden sticks with runes carved into them; a wooden box of loose tea leaves; a stack of books; and approximately eleven teacups, most of which were only half full.

In the middle of the chaos sat Yamato, who stared into the depths of a chipped blue teacup with a look of complete and utter desperation on her face. At her side a huge leather-bound book lay open to a page inscribed with various drawings and supplementary text. Genkai stood over her, glaring all the while. Behind them, a large stock pot of something boiled on the stove beside a copper kettle.

"Can't we take a break?" Rei was in the middle of whining when Kurama slid open the kitchen door. "Please?"

Genkai whapped her on the back of her head with a paper fan. "Quitting won't do you any favors, girl."

"But my head hurts and I've eaten, like, a gallon of porridge!"

"Fine." Genkai hit her with the fan again, earning a yelp from Yamato. "You have half an hour."

Yamato all but threw down the teacup, sagging until her forehead hit the table. "Oh, thank god!"

Genkai rolled her eyes and stalked out of the room, affording Kurama only the most cursory of nods as they passed one another. He tried not to make too much noise as he set about brewing tea, but when Yamato stirred at the table, he thought it would be impolite not to at least offer her some. Turning to the table, he waited for Yamato to sit up and spot him before speaking.

"Tea?" he said, as gently as he could.

She shuddered at the offer, though. "None for me, thanks. I've had a gallon of that already, too."

Kurama was far too smart to understand the implication there (and the eleven teacups on the table certainly were a clue in and of themselves). "Trying to read the leaves?" he asked, already knowing what she'd say.

Yamato just glared in response. "What else would I be doing, I ask you?"

Kurama chuckled, not at all offended. "I take it from your demeanor that you haven't had much luck."

She slumped again, defeated. "Is it that obvious?"

"Perhaps." Kurama suppressed a smile. "You're quite expressive, if I'm being honest."

"Thanks," she grumbled, though it didn't sound like she meant it.

Kurama continued to make tea in silence. Soon all that remained was to wait for the water to boil, and because it once again felt rude to do otherwise, Kurama sat at the table across from Yamato. She had pulled that large book in front of her, and she stared at its pages without blinking, black eyes all the darker for their depth and intensity. They looked like ink, Kurama mused, swimmable yet smooth as oil. Further highlighting their (lack of) color was her light auburn wig styled in loose curls, shade contrasting brilliantly with her alabaster skin and coal-dark gaze. It was a good color on her, brightening up her coloring… although the wig's curls appeared somewhat squashed and limp. Kurama wondered if she'd had time to style her hair, or if the taskmaster Genkai had not given her the chance when she no doubt forcibly tossed Yamato out of bed that morning.

"Can I ask you something?"

Rei was staring at him with those bottomless black eyes of hers, gaze oddly inscrutable despite her earlier expressiveness. Kurama wasn't the flinching type, so he did not react when Yamato spoke quite out of the blue. It had caught him off guard, to be perfectly honest, but he recovered quickly enough—too quickly for Yamato to notice anything amiss, he had no doubt. He only smiled a small, mild smile and nodded his response, indicating for her to continue without a word.

"My friend Takeshi stopped by earlier—you know, the demon one you met last night?" Yamato said. When Kurama nodded in recognition, she gestured at the box upon the table. "He came by to drop off that box and whatnot, and while he was here, he said you and Yusuke and Kuwabara have a certain reputation."

"Ah." Kurama's smile did not falter; he would not let it. "That."

Yamato studied him carefully with those bottomless eyes of hers. "So he wasn't just blowing smoke?" she said.

Kurama smiled. "I am afraid not."

"Care to elaborate?" she said when he did not continue speaking.

"I'm debating," he said. Fingers drumming against his thigh, Kurama slowly intoned, "It isn't my place to tell you Yusuke's life story. There are some things he may wish to keep private, after all, as may Kuwabara." He paused to think, then mused, "I believe Yusuke, in particular, is glad to have met someone who does not know who he is. He appears to enjoy your company and unvarnished treatment. And as for me…" He smiled again, a calculated look. "I told you the story of my life last night."

"It was more like your backstory, if you wanna get technical," Yamato said, not at all swayed from her fact-finding mission. "You didn't say much about your present or recent history."

"Perceptive," Kurama said, allowing that minor victory. Choosing his words with tact and care, Kurama admitted, "Let's just say that Yusuke and I in particular possess political influence in Demon World that grants us a certain notoriety."

"Political influence," Yamato repeated, staring at him.

"Yes."

Her face twisted with revulsion. "OK, demons I can handle, but please tell me you're not politicians, too."

It was a comment so unexpected, Kurama couldn't keep from laughing—a true laugh, genuine and unrestrained. However, Yamato looked away when he laughed, and something in her demeanor seemed… uncomfortable. Avoidant, perhaps. So Kurama composed himself quickly, laughter quieting back into his typical mild façade.

"Nothing so scurrilous as that, thankfully," he said. "I confess I find politics tiresome."

"Good," she said, still not looking at him. "That's a breed of derangement I don't want to add to the clusterfuck that has become my life." Dark eyes flickered toward him at last, accusation legible in their obsidian depths. "You're really not going to tell me anything else?"

Kurama smiled, sphinxlike.

"Fine," Yamato sighed, knowing she had been defeated. "Be that way, you spoilsport. Y'know, I—"

The tea kettle began to whistle, cutting her off. Kurama chuckled as he stood and fixed himself a cup of tea, returning to his seat once more to drink (it was only polite, after all). Yamato had resumed staring at her book, one hand extended across the table to fiddle with the jade chopsticks sitting across the small tower of dirty dishes beneath them. She didn't look up as he set his cup down atop the table, only raising her head when he spoke again.

"What does Genkai have you working on?" Kurama said, in order to make conversation.

Yamato shrugged. "Trying to read an accurate fortune on purpose, mostly." She gestured at the box and the many items spread across the table around it. "That box my friend Takeshi dropped off had some of my aunt's things in it. Haven't had a chance to look through the papers yet, but Genkai dove right on in and started making me use the other divination tools. Doesn't like to beat around the bush, that one." Sighing, she reached up and tugged at the front of her wig, thumb slipping under it for the briefest of moments. "Too bad I have no idea what I'm doing, and it's causing a setback of major proportions."

"And the book?" Kurama said, nodding at the hefty time.

Yamato rapped the open page with the back of her hand. "It's some kind of list of omens and portents my aunt used to read the future. Indexed by subject and then categorized alphabetically within subject, which I give her props for, but… see those?" Here she pointed at the jade chopsticks. "You eat off of a plate and then you read the future in the marks the chopsticks leave behind in the leftover food." Yamato groaned a little, staring at the chopsticks in disgust. "You basically read it like tealeaves, almost, but I had as much luck reading those as I did divining the future in leftover gravy."

Although Yamato found the subject repellant, Kurama couldn't help but be intrigued. "Could you demonstrate?" he asked with a wave at the chopsticks. "I'd enjoy seeing the theory in practice."

But Yamato blanched. "You want me to eat more of Genkai's nasty porridge? That recipe she made me make is just…"

"If you and Genkai weren't able to make any headway, perhaps a fresh set of eyes are in order," Kurama reasoned, trying to sound helpful (when in reality he was mostly just curious, but there was no need for Yamato to know that). "Even if mine don't possess the Sight quite the way yours do, I can lend my eyes to the task."

Yamato hesitated—but then her hands slapped the table. "Fine," she said, rising. "But if I throw up, I'm blaming you."

He suppressed another laugh; no need to make her uncomfortable a second time, much though he felt like laughing. Instead Kurama watched in silence as she removed a fresh plate from a cabinet and ladled some porridge onto it from the pot sitting on the stove. She appeared quite green as she sat down to eat, spooning bloated grains of rice and the starchy sauce around them into her mouth in quick bites. He suspected she was holding her breath as she ate, because once she shoveled down the last bite, she exhaled with force and then gasped for air, cheeks reddened from the strain.

Again, Kurama had to try quite hard not to laugh, and at this endeavor he mostly succeeded. Not quite enough, though, because his stifled chortle earned him quite the glare from Yamato. She resumed ignoring him as she set the chopsticks aside and pulled the book toward herself, flipping its pages with one hand as she held her freshly dirtied plate with the other.

"So in theory, because I cooked the food, and I ate the food, and I wielded the special magic chopsticks, this future will pertain to me personally." Yamato squinted at the plate, tongue poking from the corner of her mouth (once again making Kurama want to laugh). "Now, that little squiggle there looks to me like… a lizard?" She consulted the book. Nodded resolutely. "Definitely a lizard." Yamato rotated the plate a little. "But from this angle… oh, shit, it moved. Now it's, um… a tomato?" Flipping desperately through the pages, Yamato whispered, "Shoot, where did that entry in the book go?"

"Yamato. Stop."

He didn't intend to reach out and grab her hand. It was more of an instinct than a conscious intention, one born of a spark of realization that made keeping still impossible. He half rose from his chair and grabbed her wrist before he could allow himself to stop, and when she looked up at him in surprise, her black eyes looked as deep and as dark as a well carved into stone—a depth you could drown in, if you were not careful. But Kurama was careful (always, always careful) and withdrew quickly, releasing the warmth of her wrist at once.

"Apologies," he murmured. "But I think I've figured out the problem."

She practically dropped the plate, she appeared so happy to be rid of it. "Oh my god, really?" she said, all but gushing. "Tell me everything!"

"There isn't much to tell," Kurama said. "I'm afraid the problem is that you're trying too hard."

But Yamato's lips pursed. "That's funny. Genkai said I wasn't trying hard enough."

"Genkai is a traditionalist. I believe her training will benefit you in the long run, but… your ability to read fortunes isn't exactly within her realm of expertise," Kurama said, hoping that if Genkai overheard, she would not take offense (he certainly didn't mean any; he only spoke the truth, after all). "Her training regimen is most useful when applied as the foundation for physical disciplines like healing and combat techniques."

Yamato's eyes burned black. "If you tell me I spent two hours under a freezing waterfall for nothing, so help me—!"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Kurama smoothly interjected. "I am merely suggesting that Genkai's training should function as a building block upon which you may base your reading of fortunes, as it will get you in touch with your energy… but it isn't a direct corollary to actually reading the future."

"OK." Yamato's ire cooled somewhat, though she still appeared uneasy. "So what are you suggesting?"

"You read the fortune of your friend Takeshi with no instruction. How did you do that?"

She threw up her hands in frustration. "That's the problem—I just made shit up that sounded good!"

"Which means you followed your instincts, you might say?"

"I mean, I guess so?"

"Then do that here. Now." He smiled, hoping the expression would offer her some comfort. "Stop attempting to read the future using any methods but your own." When Yamato did not look convinced, he added, "As I said, Genkai's training is a solid foundation, but you are in control of your own methods. Do not forget that you have had success before, in your own way. Trust in that to carry you." He leaned forward, in spite of himself, to tell her: "Trust yourself, Yamato, and you won't be steered wrong."

Yamato closed her aunt's book, movements slow, and pushed it away across the table. She didn't look at Kurama. In fact, ever since he'd said she was in control, she hadn't been looking at him. She only stared at the tabletop in silence, black eyes once more inscrutable—and arresting in their mystique.

Lest those eyes overtake him, Kurama looked away quickly.

Gaze on his teacup, he asked her, "What are you thinking?"

"Not much." Yamato's lips barely moved when she spoke. "Following a hunch, I guess."

Kurama nodded. "I'll leave you to it, then."

Kurama stood, and at the same time, so did Yamato. Before he could gather up his cup of tepid, half-drunk tea, Yamato shook her head and reached for it, balancing her dirty dishes on her other arm. She held quite a few at once; Kurama suspected she might have been employed as a waitress at some point, grip precarious yet expert.

"Here," she said. "Let me get that for you."

"Thank you," Kurama said, turning toward the door—but as he set his hand upon the knob, and as the sound of running water filled the room, he stopped. He turned back as the sound of dishes clinking into the sink cut the air. He turned back to tell Yamato that everyone had gathered in a nearby courtyard to help Keiko hang wedding decorations, and that she should join them if she so desired and once her training ended.

But Kurama, when he saw Yamato, did not speak. He simply stared at Yamato, who stood near the sink, water flowing freely from the faucet beside her. She didn't move a muscle. She stared instead into the depths of a single teacup held gently in both hands. She didn't blink, didn't shift her weight, didn't so much as breathe. She just… stared. Stared trancelike at the cup as though it held the secrets of the universe—just out of reach, yet tantalizingly close.

It was his cup, he couldn't help but notice, that seemed to hold these secrets for her.

"Yamato?" Kurama said.

She didn't move. A reply came out on the current of her breath, no more than a whisper in the quiet kitchen. "Yes?" she breathed, not looking away from the cup.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." She shook herself at last, blinking her way back into the waking world. "I just…"

She stopped speaking. Looked at the cup again.

"Yes?" Kurama pressed.

Yamato took a breath. Smiled. Placed the cup into the sink. Didn't look at him. Said "It's nothing" in a way that belied the phrase's meaning.

"I don't believe you," said Kurama evenly.

Yamato's gaze flickered toward him, then away again. Her lips rolled together. She tugged on her wig once, then twice. Hesitated. Took a deep breath.

"It's entirely possible I'm just imagining things," she said with a confession's deserted desperation. "I'm probably just hoping I read your fortune on purpose. A hallucination born of hope. That sort of thing." She waved a hand dismissively, but then it dropped to her side like a stone. Helpless, she searched his face and murmured, "But you made the tea. You drank it. And I swear to god I just saw…"

The air felt thick, like wool stretched across the back of his neck.

"What did you see?" Kurama asked.

He didn't want to ask. He wanted to demand. He had every right to demand answers, if she had glimpsed a future that belonged to him—but then Yamato shot him a sheepish smile. She laughed to herself, rubbing at the back of her neck. Amusement colored her cheeks as laughter filled her eyes.

In spite of himself and all his best intentions, Kurama's urgency cooled.

"I'm gonna keep it a secret, if you don't mind," she said, pressing a finger to her lips like she had told him a delicious secret. "Just until tomorrow, though. Day after tomorrow at the latest. Is that OK?" Her smile returned, even more sheepish this time. "I, ah. I don't want to bias you."

Kurama thought about it.

Yamato smiled.

Kurama heard himself say, slowly: "I'll pretend not to be intrigued in the meantime."

Yamato laughed.

"Good luck with that," she said, and she reached for the dishes in the sink.

Only when Yamato started humming to herself, up to her elbows in suds, did Kurama reach for the door again. But when Yamato chuckled, sound magnetic, he couldn't keep from looking at her one last time.

Still standing beside the sink, she had once more picked up Kurama's teacup. She stared into it with an amused smile, the barest hint of confusion troubling her onyx gaze. She looked more surprised than anything. Like someone who had been given an unexpected gift, but she wasn't quite sure why she deserved it.

Kurama wondered what her eyes beheld.

He wondered—but he did not ask again.

One day. Two, at most. That was all she'd asked for. It wasn't long, in the grand scheme of things. He'd lived far longer than a mere two days. What were two days more?

One day. Two at the most.

He could give her that much, he reasoned.

X

I wanted to start updating regularly and talked a big game about it, but life overheard and kicked me in the face with responsibility instead. Because life is a nasty bitch. OUCH.

Ubiquitous "OC trains with Genkai" scene is ubiquitous LMFAO. Is it really a YYH OC fic without a scene like that? I THINK NOT. And no shade against Genkai, but I don't actually think her usual training methods are a great match for a seer like Rei. They'd teach Rei control of her core power, but the actual-fortune-telling-part wouldn't fall in Genkai's wheelhouse.

These people are fuckin' shiny-ass pearls with spectacular luminescence for leaving reviews and making my goddamn day: Zayren Heart, Lady Milk-Tea, cezarina, Lady Skynet, SailorVenus, empressofthedead, SterlingBee, xanaldy, bunnyonvenus, Exhale Vanilla Lace, guest, Meno Melissa, silverthornz! Seriously though, WHERE DID ALL OF YOU COME FROM?