Chapter 20: "A Totally Platonic, Not-F*ckable Friend"


Botan (who appeared out of nowhere to hover at Rei's elbow) whispered names into her ear as demons from another world tumbled through the portal and into the courtyard below. If this had happened only a few days prior, Rei would've scoffed at the notion of wind demons, ice apparitions and similar — but as it stood, she listened to Botan's hurried explanations with attentive ears and the distinct impression that she was teetering on the verge of a goddamn panic attack.

Other worlds. Supernatural powers. Demons. If it weren't for the fact Jin kept flying around like a fucking bird, Rei probably would've told Botan to go fuck herself for saying such patently ridiculous things. But precisely none of the newcomer dude-demons looked at all human, so Rei just shut her mouth and just tried to take it all in. She was getting better at that little skill these days. Demons (not to mention undead warrior queens who helped their descendants read the future) had that effect on people, Rei very much included.

The Beautiful Suzuki ("Christ, what a name," Rei muttered) had followed Jin out of the whirling portal above the courtyard and landed on the ground with lithe grace despite the comically oversized rucksack slung over his slender shoulder. Sharp-featured and even sharper eyed, a shock of blond hair crowned his narrow face, and lean muscle covered his tall and wiry frame. Rei wanted to march over and inform him the 'Beautiful' in his name didn't suit him at all. He was a handsome-as-fuck dude, man, demon (ugh, Rei still had to get used to these terms), but handsome and pretty weren't quite the same thing. Given the rather dour expression on his face, she doubted he'd take that news very well, though. Didn't seem like the type to have a sense of humor...or at least that's what Rei thought until Botan whispered Suzuki used to dress up as a clown on the regular, and suddenly Rei had a lot of reevaluating to do. Demons, am I right?

Shishiwakamaru, meanwhile, was actually pretty, all luscious purple hair down to his asshole and brilliant, plum-colored eyes paired with pristine white robes like something out of a history textbook. A stab of envy pierced Rei's gut at the sight of that hair, not to mention when she clocked his delicate features (the kind usually reserved for members of K-pop boy-bands; truly there was no justice in the world). His voluminous robes hid his physique, but the way he moved and the easy grace that hung on every stride of his long legs told her he probably hit the gym a lot. There was something almost supernaturally pretty about the guy, like a siren from a storybook, nigh impossible for her to take her eyes off of him — but the effect was diminished but the way he held his nose in the air, haughty as he regarded Genkai's beautiful temple with barely disguised disdain. Yeah, Shishiwakamaru was pretty and he damn well knew it, which meant that after a moment's reflection, Rei ceased to find him pretty at all.

Speaking of people hitting the gym: Jin looked like a gym-rat of the highest order. Rei also got the distinct impression he was probably an exhibitionist. Ripped to hell and back with abs you could grate diamonds over and arms that rippled with strength, he flitted about through the air like a falling autumn leaf, constantly drawing attention to himself both with his acrobatic antics, ferocious flexing and boisterous laugh...not to mention his nearly-bare chest gleaming in the sunlight. He wore two strips of crisscrossed fabric over his chest in lieu of an actual shirt, and since each strip was no winder than a credit card, Rei was treated to a veritable buffet of sculpted man-chest and a V-cut any Instagram model would envy. His lion's mane of red hair and his gleaming blue eyes belied that image a little, though; the wind demon had a lively and merry air about him, pun intended, with a kind of youthful exuberance that prevented even his gorgeous body from exuding sex. He was just kind of...fun, this Jin character. Fun, a little childish, and downright jolly. The fang glinting in his mouth and horn peeking from his mountain of hair made him look like an impish storybook character, which only drove home the impression of a guy who didn't realize his own potential appeal.

The next guy who came out of the portal was a literal child — like seriously, Rinku looked like he was in middle school or something, and the fact that he kept playing with a yo-yo after he landed in the courtyard only made him look younger still. He wore a yellow and pink hat, oversized and cartoonish (that Rei had to wonder if he'd borrowed from Suzuki's clown-closet), and his pink shirt with yellow sleeves matched the ensemble in a way that made Rei's eyes ache. Everything about him, from the tufts of brown hair under the hat to his round face to his wide brown eyes, screamed this is a fucking kid — but then Rei spotted the face tattoo. The boy, the little goddamn boy, had three red stars tattooed under one eye, livid scarlet standing out like blood against his tanned skin. OK, so maybe he wasn't a kid, then. Rei certainly didn't know any children with face tattoos. Out of all the demons she'd seen that day, he was definitely the weirdest. Baffling, really. She was just glad this crowd hadn't showed up sooner and crashed the bachelor party she'd thrown for Yusuke. Rinku looked like a child's imaginary friend come to life; there was no way she'd have been able to explain his presence at a burlesque show.

On the other end of the spectrum, if Rinku was a child's imaginary friend come to life, Touya resembled something more likely to spring from a nightmare. The second Rei beheld his fathomless eyes with no pupil amid the wash of icy blue iris, she had to wonder if he was wearing contacts, or maybe he was blind — but, no. He met her eyes from across the yard and stared at her with assessing curiosity. Dude could definitely see. The frigid eyes were probably a demon thing, she guessed with a shiver, and they made sense when Botan whispered that Touya was an ice apparition. He looked cold, with pale skin and wintry skin and eyes, pinched face sporting hollow cheeks that spoke of hunger. Rei grudgingly had to admit his wild-ass hair color also probably as real as his eyes, too. It was steel blue where he'd swept it back over his skull, but bangs the color of wintergreen gum hung down over one eye in a series of spikes. He was short and wore a lot of fishnet and if Rei didn't already know he was a demon, she'd have pegged him as the front-man of an overly colorful Visual Kei band. She certainly knew a dozen burlesque performers who'd kill for that hair and those eyes without the aid of contacts and dye...

Another inhuman hair color belonged to the demon named Chu. The tallest of the lot, the brilliant blue mohawk jutting from the top of his skull in a tall ridge made his already considerable even more apparent. Braided tails hung from the back of the mohawk down his spine, swinging as he swaggered over to Yusuke and slapped the guy so hard on the back, Yusuke stumbled forward and wheezed. Like Jin, Chu had muscles for days, though unlike Jin, he actually wore a shirt that covered everything but his well-defined arms. Scruff adorned his cheeks and chin and a gourd hung from his belt, the letters painted on the side telling Rei it was full of some kind of sake — like something out of an old samurai movie, or so Rei would've thought if Chu hadn't opened his mouth and spoken in a thick Australian accent. Rei's jaw dropped when the sound floated to her from across the courtyard. A demon with an Australian accent speaking Japanese? What the fuck was up with that?

Conversely, the three men with shaved heads and olive skin who called themselves monks (the leader of whom was named Hokushin, Botan told Rei) looked and sounded perfectly Japanese after they exited the portal and joined the others on the ground. In fact, if it weren't for their odd manner of dress and uncanny resemblance to each other, Rei might've assumed she was looking at a trio of brothers — but then she saw them in motion. They moved with the same odd grace she now observed on Suzuki, Touya, Jin, Chu, Rinku and Shishiwakamaru, all of their eyes doing a sort of dance across the courtyard as they took in exits, entrances and potential threats. Kurama and Yusuke had done the same thing when they entered the burlesque club, the act of canvassing their surroundings coming as naturally to them as being a smartass came to Rei. Rei got the sense it was a demon thing. Even the carefree Jin performed this action — oh. Was that why he was flying around so much? To get a good view of the terrain? His eyes darted left and right, calm and assessing despite the goofy grin. Yusuke had told her demons were all fighters, after all...and she'd assumed Jin was just being a goober.

It occurred to Rei, not for the first time, that she knew jack shit about the Makai. Sure, she knew some things about individual demons like Kurama, but she didn't know a damn thing about demon society as a whole. She'd need to rectify that oversight ASAP. Rei didn't like feeling ignorant, and watching these demons gather together in the most concentrated display of demonic power she'd ever seen, she felt like the proverbial babe in the woods.

And really, it was just insulting to look back on her past at this point. Today there was no way she'd ever mistake anyone in the courtyard for a human. Even the relatively human-looking Suzuki and the monks wore their demonic pride and power like a cloak, as obvious to Rei now as the glare of the sun overhead. That wasn't the case for Rei in the not-so-distant past, though. She'd apparently seen many demons before being targeted by them, but she'd written off their odd features as alternative fashion. Looking at demons now, how could she have ever mistaken them for human? Yeah, she needed to ask questions and really learn about the Makai, and —

Rei put a hand over her face. Ugh. Just look at her, getting all curious about the supernatural. What happened to wanting to put this all to bed and getting back to her old, humdrum life?

"I'm losing it." Rei chuckled to herself. "I'm an ambulance ride and pair of grippy socks away from a medically required vacation."

"What was that?" asked Botan.

"Oh...nothing."

"Oh man!" Yusuke cackled as he slapped Chu's back, the pair of them trading blows Rei could hear from across the courtyard. "What the heck are you guys doing here? You're early!"

"Got your message about the lack of cellular reception at the temple." Suzuki hefted his rucksack and smirked. "Thought we'd stop by with my latest gadget and see if we can fix that before the wedding."

Rei started. Yusuke had sent them a message about the cellular service? But she had only told Kurama about —

Red hair flickered in her periphery. Kurama stood not too far away on the porch. He gave her a knowing nod when their eyes met. Ah. So this was Kurama's doing, then. A rush of gratitude made Rei nod back. She'd have to make a point of thanking him later — and not just for coming through for her on the phone issue. He'd been her sounding board in the woods when she was damn near close to a breakdown and he'd saved her life a few times now, too, most recently when she ran afoul of his demon plants. The sight of him thundering into the clearing, face furious and steps sure, had made her feel safe even before he cut the plant's tentacles off of her flailing leg. Interesting that the sight of him alone had calmed her panic like water thrown over flame. Rei tried her best not to think about it, averting her gaze from Kurama and back toward the demons in the courtyard.

"Nice, Suzuki! Thanks a ton!" Yusuke continued, oblivious to Rei and Kurama's silent exchange. "But did all of you need to be here to drop it off?"

Jin giggled and landed beside Yusuke, jostling him with a rough shoulder-check. "Makai tradition, showin' up a day or two afore the weddin' and give the groom a fight or three to take the edge off the nerves."

"Is that so." Yusuke's smile turned into a dark, eager smirk. "Well. Try not to aim for the face, at least. Keiko would kill me if I got a black eye before the ceremony."

"Yes, she would."

Yusuke peeped and spun. Keiko had snuck up on him on quiet feet, standing a mere meter away with hands on her hips. She wore a glower like a wedding gown, eyes blazing as she glared at her husband-to-be and his posse of rowdy friends.

"Don't go dragging Yusuke off on some adventure, now," she scolded. "He's already had one bachelor party and we don't need another."

"Aw, hell." Chu sagged and groaned. "We missed it!"

"You did, and I'm glad," said Keiko, "because you being there would've had it ending in disaster."

"Heh." Suzuki crossed his arms and grinned. "She isn't exactly wrong."

"So no party!" Rinku piped up. "But the fights — those're fair game, right?"

Keiko sighed, knowing she could only do so much in the face of such enthusiasm. "Try not to go too hard," was all she said. "I'm supposed to marry someone in a few days, and I can't marry a dead man."

"Heh!" Yusuke tossed his head. "As if they stand a chance against me."

"You're not king anymore, Yusuke!" Jin threw his arm around Yusuke's neck and put him into a headlock. "What's say we see if you've still got the old fightin' spark in ya, eh?"

"You're on!" Yusuke grumbled from the vicinity of Jin's armpit. "And get some deodorant, you smelly rat bastard — "

"Now hold on a second!" Keiko said. "You can't drag him off just yet. Yusuke still has to help out with wedding prep."

Yusuke sagged under Jin's muscular arm. "But Keiko — "

"No buts." Her eyes grew pensive. Looking over Yusuke's friends, she mused, "But since you're all here early...might as well put you to work. Call it your payment for an extra day or two of room and board."

Everyone groaned. Rei harbored suspicions that these demons were no stranger to Keiko's incredible willpower. She wanted to go over and introduce herself, see how the dynamic between these most interesting demons and humans would play out, but a hand on her elbow stopped her cold. Genkai peered up at Rei with a steely look on her face. Rei's stomach lurched. The last time they'd talked had not been pretty...

"You." Genkai tugged Rei after her. "Come with me."

Rei levied a halfhearted protest. "As Keiko's Fixer, if she's putting people to work — "

"You have bigger fish tofry."

It was hard to argue with a willpower like Genkai's; Keiko and the old psychic were cut from the same indomitable cloth. Rei shot the group of cavorting demons a regretful look, watching as Kuwabara came over to roughhouse, but she let Genkai drag her off without making introductions. Soon enough Rei found herself back in the library room where she'd had her blowup of a conversation with Genkai and Botan, where Rei's research material had been spread out atop a table. Genkai had manged to find the box of Rei's aunt's things again, the cardboard container sitting innocently in a nearby chair. Even from a distance, Rei caught a faint whiff of jasmine, sweet and faded.

"You missed out on valuable time to do research while you were out painting the town red with Yusuke," Genkai said. "Time to catch up."

Rei nodded stiffly. "I take it you've already looked through most of this."

"I have. But it's not my family's history. It's yours. You need to be the one to discover it." A smile quirked her wizened lips. "If you're up for it, that is."

Genkai's sudden hands-off approach rendered her speechless. Genkai noticed and pressed on.

"And when you're done with that, try meditating again. Try telling the future. But go at your own pace." She turned on her heel to go. "Call me if you need help. Otherwise — trust your instincts, Yamato."

Genkai thought Rei's instincts were worth trusting? It was an odd vote of confidence from the psychic who had earlier done nothing but berate Rei. But Genkai wasn't the type of person who said things without meaning them, so Rei ducked her head in thanks.

"Sure. That's..." Rei swallowed. "OK. I'll try that."

"I'll leave you to it." Genkai headed for the door. "Remember I'm a call away if you need anything."

"OK." As Genkai put a foot across the threshold, Rei blurted, "Genkai?"

"What?"

"Thanks."

Genkai smirked. "I'll be right down the hall."

It was a quiet reconciliation, of sorts. Genkai had left Rei to her own devices to lead the investigation into her aunt, trusting Rei to guide the process of navigating her powers...wow. Big change from before, when Genkai investigated Chidori's death without Rei's consent. Rei would probably never get an outright apology from Genkai about that (Yusuke probably inherited his stubborn streak in part from the old lady, if Rei had to guess), but this was still more than Rei had expected to receive from her. Genkai wasn't the type for sorries. She'd let her actions speak for her, and leaving Rei to her own devices spoke volumes indeed.

Rei just hoped she could fill the books of Genkai's trust with something worth writing home about.

After Genkai left, Rei slowly unpacked the box of her aunt's paperwork she'd never had the heart to read. The mirror housing Himiko's ancient spirit gleamed where it lay upon the table like a watching eye. Rei tried not to look at it as she braced herself, mentally preparing to read whatever lay in wait. Much though she hated to admit it, Genkai was right about one thing: Rei did need to read this stuff at last. She'd been putting it off for years. Even if she still held onto anger toward Chidori in her heart, her head knew her aunt's perspective was valuable, even if it was a perspective with which she fundamentally disagreed. Rei's heart would follow her head eventually. It just needed time to catch up.

Her conversation with Kurama had reminded her of that. Another thing she should probably thank him for.


A knock on the library door roused Rei from her academic trance. She stood and stretched as the door opened to reveal Botan and Keiko, the pair of them smiling while Rei stared back in confused silence.

"Oh. Hi." She plopped back down into her chair. "What's up?"

"Hello, Rei!" Botan said, "Lovely to see you. How are things going with your research?"

"Fine. Just doing some light reading, I guess."

That was, of course, an enormous understatement, like calling the Grand Canyon a pothole or something equally ridiculous. The table lay covered in papers, notebooks, journals and texts of all kinds, scant inches of the surface exposed to light or air. The items were all organized into neat stacks and piles, sure, but Rei had spread everything out in order to catalog everything left to her by her aunt. Tough to sort through so much mess and such dense information, but Rei had done her level best to organize it all to make reading easier. She'd spent most of her time organizing books into types (instructional, journalistic, informational), objects into categories (divination, garbage), papers into ordered stacks (business, random recipes that sounded disgusting), and similar. Her aunt had stuffed quite a bit into the box, and it was taking every last scrap of Rei's librarian training to make the whole mess palatable.

Not that the challenge was beyond her, though. Hell, Rei had almost enjoyed the process of sorting through her aunt's things, leaning on all her knowledge from her library sciences program to turn the endless-seeming slog into a series of digestible chunks. Making a fun game of the task was the only way to keep herself sane amidst the constant reminders of her family drama and personal losses. Yeah, she really wanted to avoid a grippy-socked hospital trip if she could manage it...

"You've been in here a while, and it's almost time for dinner, so we thought we'd come and get you," Keiko said.

Rei frowned. "How long have I...?"

"Hours."

"Oh. Wow."

"Figured you might be too caught up in reading to realize the time." Keiko eyed the piles of papers with an empathetic smile. "Happens to me when I study. Can we come in?"

"Sure."

Botan and Keiko sat down around the table while Rei checked her watch. She swore when she saw the time. Keiko was right — Rei had absolutely lost track of time. She'd spent most of the day just reading and organizing. So much for socializing with the new arrivals...

Keiko poked a stack of papers with a fingertip. "You find out anything interesting while you worked?"

Oh, hell yeah. Rei had devoured half the damn table at that point, reading soothing her nerdy soul like nothing else could (she was a hit at parties, but dammit, at heart Rei was just a bookworm good at pretending). Rei had found out tons...but it was almost too much information to make sense of in her own head, let alone relate to Keiko and Botan. One of the first things she'd read was a family tree, genealogical records that tracked the Sight through the women in her family over time and generations all the way back to queen Himiko. Chidori had taken great pains to making an accurate chart, notating when family names changed and any important happenings the women in Rei's line had managed to predict. One interesting factoid was that one of Rei's Sight-bearing ancestors was (as far as Rei could tell) a trans woman. A traditionally male name and a male birth marker had been struck out and replaced with a feminine name, with a footnote stating the woman had chosen this name for herself. Rei immediately put the masculine name out of her head; she wouldn't be dead-naming anybody if she could help it, never mind the fact that this ancestor of hers had lived almost 200 years prior.

Genealogy wasn't the only interesting thing she'd stumbled across. Many tomes had told her how to read fortunes using in various methods, mostly ones originating in Japan, and quite a few documents held historical records about Himiko herself. The weirdest thing she'd found so far, though, was a book on Catholic demonology that felt somewhat out of place. The Catholic conception of demons didn't at all align with the demons Rei had met here at the temple; she wondered if real demons had influenced Catholic perception of them, or if Catholic demons were just the product of religious fantasy. Or maybe they were another kind of creature entirely; fuck if Rei knew. Whatever the case, she'd still made the effort to flip through the weird book, noting that a few demons' names had been circled in heavy black ink. She wasn't sure what those names indicated, if anything, but she'd still jotted them down on the notepad she'd been keeping to corral the most interesting information her aunt had left behind.

She also found the obituaries of her parents. She put them away without reading a word.

Rei told Keiko and Botan what she could about all of that, using her powers as a librarian-in-training to keep her thoughts organized and her conclusion cohesive. Botan and Keiko listen in silence, nodding and reacting appropriately where applicable. Rei didn't allow herself to get emotional when the fate of her immediate family came up as a natural part of her report. She didn't want Botan latching onto her aunt the way Botan had earlier that day.

Alas, such was not to be, because soon Botan looked at her and said, "Yamato...I hesitate to ask, but did you find out anything more about your aunt, Chidori?"

"Not really." Rei shrugged, face carefully impassive. "This was mostly research she was conducting — about Himiko, our power, and about Tutivillus. Also random recipes. There's not much here about her as a person, though."

"Tutivillus," Keiko repeated. "That's the demon chasing you, right?"

"That's right." Rei tapped the book about Catholic demons with an acrylic fingernail. "Apparently he shares a name with a Catholic demon thought to interfere with the work of biblical scribes — essentially the patron demon of writer's block."

Botan frowned. "How unexpected."

"Right? My aunt left behind a lot of notes on Catholic demonology, but I don't think it's because Tutivillus is, y'know, a literal Christian demon." Rei chuckled at the thought; none of the demons she'd seen at all fit the descriptions of Catholic demons from her aunt's books. "I think he assumed the name Tutivillus and that he probably wasn't given that name at birth. My aunt has a whole list of Catholic demons here. His name's in the book, but she also has others circled."

"Interesting," said Keiko. "Maybe he's assumed other names in the past?"

"Maybe," said Rei.

"And there isn't anything about your aunt traveling to the Makai, is there?" said Botan.

And there it was — Botan once again pushing her to confront the knowledge of her aunt's death not lining up with the chronicle of Rei's life. Pushing Rei to think about her childhood abandonment against her will. Making Rei think about painful subjects without her consent. But before she could tell Botan to take a hike, or even try to change the subject, Botan's face dropped into her hands.

"Oh, Rei. I'm sorry," she said with a groan. "There I go again, prying. I've been wanting to apologize all afternoon. It was wrong of us to go behind your back and investigate your aunt. We should have told you what we were planning. It must have been such a shock to hear, and — "

Rei reflexively said, "It's OK — "

"No, it isn't." Botan sat up and shook her head, blue hair flying. "Don't you dare comfort me. I'm not the one hurting."

It was a remarkably mature thing for Botan to say, one that left Rei floundering — and feeling pleased. She covered Botan's hand with hers and smiled. Rei wasn't the type to hold grudges in the face of what felt like a true apology, and besides: She liked Botan despite her chatterbox tendencies and penchant for gossip. Rei was more than willing to let this be water under the proverbial bridge.

"I know you were just trying to help," Rei said. "And I'm sorry for snapping at you. I just — "

"No, you don't apologize to me!" Botan protested. "You are allowed to be angry — "

"I'm, not apologizing for my emotions, just how I acted upon them," Rei said, wanting to make that very clear. She would not be giving up her anger just to please someone else, but she could also admit when she lashed out. "You didn't realize how sore of a spot you were poking. Let's just chalk this up to a lack of communication and move past it, OK?"

"OK." Botan beamed. "Friends again?"

"Friends again."

She let out an enormous sigh. "Kurama was right. All you needed was time to process, and — "

"Kurama?" Realization dawned. "Oh. Right. You two talked when he covered for me to make a getaway, I'm guessing."

"Yes. He told me to leave you be and said to give you time. And he was right." Botan laughed, eyes rolling. "He usually is, darn it."

"He seems to understand you pretty well, Yamato," said Keiko. "The two of you get along swimmingly, in fact." Her brown eyes darkened, sly. "Yusuke even said you were close enough to share a hotel room."

Rei slapped a hand over her face. "Yusuke, you blabbermouth..."

"Now, don't be embarrassed!" Botan twittered. "It's romantic!"

Rei looked at Botan from between her fingers. "So you must be a fan of 'there was only one bed' trope, huh?"

"Of course I am!" Botan declared. "It's a fanfiction staple!"

"Botan has an AO3 account," Keiko handily explained.

Botan's face flushed. "Hush, Keiko," she said before turning to Rei with an eager grin. "So, Yamato. Tell us everything. What happened between you and Kurama during the bachelor party?"

Rei shrugged, trying her damnedest not to flush. "There's not much to tell."

"Oh, don't be like that," Botan insisted. "Kurama is a wonderful person, and so are you. It's no wonder you get along." Botan snatched up Rei's hand and pouted, magenta eyes watery. "Oh, please tell us about your trip into town with him and the others! We're dying to know all the juicy details!"

Rei blinked at Botan in silence, hand creeping up to brush over the top of her wig. Botan's big, plaintive eyes were impossible to ignore or brush off, but what the heck could Rei possibly share with her? Keiko looked interested, yeah, but Botan was practically salivating for gossip. Anything Rei said Botan would absolutely repeat to anyone who would listen, not to mention blow completely out of proportion. Botan was great, but Rei knew her type, and she knew damn well to be careful with her words — especially when talking about someone as private as Kurama. And Rei wasn't the revelatory sort, either. She was private, too, and her feeling for Kurama were —

No. Not feelings. Rei didn't have feelings. But if she said the wrong thing, Botan would try to claim Rei had feelings for Kurama when all Rei felt for Kurama was healthy respect. Yes. Respect. That was it. Definitely nothing more than that. Nuh-uh. Nope. And respect was totally natural feeling to have after everything she'd been through with Kurama. He'd saved her life more than once now, they had complementary personalities, they were both intellectual and emotionally intelligent...

And, a tiny voice whispered in the back of Rei's head, Kurama was super goddamn cute.

Rei did her best to ignore that tiny voice, but it grew louder and louder the more she tried to not think about Kurama's brilliant hair, luminous eyes, and the way he'd felt so strong against her when they'd danced in the club — and oh, fuck, she couldn't deny that Kurama wasn't just cute, he was drop dead fucking gorgeous and Rei knew it. What was the point in pretending that he wasn't one of the prettiest people she'd ever laid eyes in her entire goddamn life? And she'd run with a burlesque troupe, resplendent with hotties of the highest order, not to mention her delicious ex-boyfriend, Nobuo. But Kurama was more attractive than every last one of them, and it was pointless to deny it. Rei had eyes, after all, and Kurama drew the current of her attention like the tide to the moon.

God, it took every last scrap of her willpower not to blurt out to Botan how exquisite he'd looked when he woke up next to her in the hotel room. He'd thrown his muscular arm over her in his sleep, green eyes sleepy but brilliant when they appeared beneath the dark of his lashes, his slow, curling smile curling her toes as he came awake and looked at her in the dim hotel room light...

Don't think about that, Rei scolded herself. Don't think about him being so fucking pretty in a way that made her chest ache. Think about him in the woods instead. Think about him when he'd looked damn near frightening when he arrived to save her. Think about his scary plants and weird powers and fearful abilities — and think about afterward when he was so gentle and kind when he sat there listening, and sharing, and just generally being a nice person. When he bound her injured hand with deft fingertips, her skin prickling as his hand brushed over the inside of her wrist. His scent of pine and mint, green and growing things and sunlight and rain — wait, no, that was making it worse, because in the woods his hair had sparkled in the sun and his eyes had flashed the same color as the trees, and he had been so gorgeous and attentive and kind —

Oh, fuck, Rei thought. She had it bad for Kurama, didn't she?

Yes, she did. And that realization fucking sucked, because Kurama didn't date. He didn't do relationships. He didn't pursue romance. All of the ways he'd been kind to her were incidental to her presence at the temple. She knew damn well that she could be anyone and he'd treat her the same way. She wasn't special. He'd be that kind, that caring, that gentle to anyone in her shoes. No matter how attractive she found him, Rei knew not to read into his behavior. She knew not to read into his kindness. Kurama was just being polite, that's all. He was being a friend. A totally platonic, totally-not-fuckable friend, and that was all.

...a totally platonic, totally-not-fuckable friend who was precisely her type, and that was a fucking tragedy of epic proportions, but still. He was a friend and that was all he could ever be to her, because if she gave anyone even the slightest goddamn inkling that she had the hots for Kurama (and it was becoming more and more apparent that she did), Botan would spread the gossip and it would get back to Kurama and then that friendship would likely end. Because Kurama didn't do romance, and she didn't want to scare him away with the suggestion of it.

But she wasn't sad about any of that, she fiercely told herself. Friendship was its own, wonderful reward — just as good as romance, and often even better than that. Kurama was the one true friend she had right now, as far as Rei could tell, and she needed a friend, badly. Like hell if she'd let hormones (or the temple's resident blabbermouth) ruin a good thing.

Not that he'd ever want to date someone like her. Even dressed to the nines, she knew she didn't compare to him. There was no way he'd ever...

And yet...the dream. The one that had yet to come true. It had made certain promises, now hadn't it?

But that thought was confusing AF and she would hate to wind up disappointed after getting her hopes up, so she put it away. Friendship — that was all she'd focus on, and for now, she needed to preserve it. (Keep it in your pants, girl!) So, in order to further the lies she knew she must tell both to herself and to others, Rei summoned the ghosts of her burlesque performances past and looked at Botan with a big, fake, performer's smile, shrugging all the while.

"There's really not much to tell, truly," she said. "Kurama was a perfect gentleman at the hotel. We had to share a room and a bed, yeah, but he kept his distance and was respectful of my space." She rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh carefully engineered to convey wry humor and nothing else. "Honestly, it was the least salacious bed-sharing experience you've ever seen. The fanfic community would be disappointed."

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true," Botan said, but the spark of hope in her eyes had dimmed. "Surely sparks flew a little."

"Not really." This was a lie. Sparks had flown more than once, by Rei's humble estimates. But she didn't want Botan knowing that, so Rei decided to lure Botan away from dangerous waters with some bait she didn't mind dangling: "Well. I did make him dance a few times."

Botan gasped. "You what?"

"Dragged him out onto the floor when he spent too long on the sidelines looking judgy." She grinned at the memory. "The look on his face was absolutely priceless."

"Sounds like you manage to keep him on his toes," Keiko said.

"I try my best. But that's about the extent of things, really." She shrugged. "Sorry it's not more interesting."

Botan leaned toward her. "We know you spent a little time together today, too, when you fell into his perimeter trap — "

"Wow," Rei grumbled. "Word travels fast."

" — and since he knew about the conversation we'd had about your aunt, that means you two talked when he went to help you." Botan searched her face like a shark scenting blood in the water. "Isn't that right?"

"He's just being a friend," Rei said.

Botan's brows shot up. "Really?"

"Kurama doesn't do that for just anyone," said Keiko.

"And you keep making him laugh!" Botan said.

"I make everybody laugh," Rei shot back. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm fucking hilarious."

"True, but — "

"But what we're saying is that you and Kurama have gotten along together so quickly," said Keiko. "And that's unusual."

"That's right!" Botan agreed. "So what do you think about Kurama, hmm?"

Rei stared at Botan as she calmly and evenly stated, "I think he's a nice person and a good friend."

Botan's face fell. "That's it?"

"I've only known him for four days. What else could I possibly say?"

She could say he's nice to look at. That they get along. That their banter is witty and quick and engaging and he makes her toes curl when he looks at her. She could say they shared the most emotionally intimate conversations she's had in years — since she broke up with Nobuo, in fact. She could say she had a vision of him waking up beside her, one that didn't match the morning they'd shared at the hotel.

Which meant he'd wake up beside her again, maybe not tomorrow, but someday.

But she couldn't tell Botan a word of it, and that meant it was time to set up a diversion. Tell them something else, dangle a treat to distract them, make them think she's sharing something private when really it's all for show. Her usual tactic, tried and true. But what could she say to deflect their interest?

An image of the courtyard full of demon's — whether a thought of her own or one of Himiko's suggestions — flashed through her head. Ah, yes. That was perfect.

"I'll tell you what, though." She leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs at the thigh, grinning. "That Chu guy sure was cute."

Keiko frowned. "Chu?"

"Yeah. The one with the mohawk?" Rei said, and she let out a low, appreciative whistle. "Very nice arms. Rugged face. Love the accent. Totally my type."

She did not, in fact, love the accent, and Chu was not, in further fact, Rei's type, but these pesky details were beside the point, thank you very much. She'd picked the demon who resembled Kurama the least; that'd throw them off the scent for sure, right?

But Keiko failed to buy it. Her nose wrinkled as she said, "Really? Chu is kind of..."

"Actually, Chu is great!" Botan nudged Keiko under the table with her foot (and Rei noticed). "A very nice demon, in fact!"

"Wait, what happened to Natsumi?" Keiko muttered.

"They broke up." Botan grinned from ear to ear. "And that means if Chu is your type, Yamato, then he's single and you should definitely mingle."

Keiko sighed. "I suppose Yamato does need a date for the wedding."

"Ha! I guess that's true." Rei pushed her chair away from the table and rose to her feet. "You said dinner was soon? I'm actually starving. A break would be nice."

"Then let's get you something to eat," said Botan. "And you can meet everyone else while you're at it — including Chu."

Rei wasn't quite sure if she liked the smile on Botan's face, but ignoring the toll of funeral bells in her head, she followed the grim reaper from the room.


Once Rei emerged from her academic isolation, she was introduced in full to the demons she had earlier only glimpsed. The monks weren't there — off doing security-related things, apparently — but the others eagerly greeted her while Botan rattled off names and presented Rei to the group. At once Rei felt at ease; they were friendly, especially once Yusuke slung an arm around her shoulders and declared her "one bad bitch" with conspiratorial affection.

She picked Chu out of the crowd immediately, of course, in no small part because he was Kurama's aesthetic opposite. Kurama was strong but slender, wiry where Chu was bulky and broad. Chu's bright blue hair was the opposite of Kurama's, cool instead of warm, and his skin was burnished instead of pale. Even his hard, chiseled face contrasted Kurama's delicate cheekbones and full lips (not to mention Chu's nose, crooked from many fights). He was also loud and boisterous in a way Kurama never had been, wrapping Rei up in a hug and spinning her in a circle the moment they met, her face crushed between his enormous pecs so hard it felt like she was back in the burlesque club during one of Nobuo's raunchier audience-participation numbers. Kurama wouldn't be that effusive (nor that touchy) in a million years.

"Great t' meet ya, Yamato!" Chu bellowed after introductions had been made. "Saw you earlier, but Genkai pulled ya off 'fore I got a chance t' say hello."

Despite how different he was from Kurama, Rei had to admit she hadn't been lying when she said he was cute. His skin-tight shirt promised abs galore and an impressive V-line on his hips. Mouthwatering, really, if not for his personality. Back in undergrad, she would've immediately categorized Chu as a potential fling or no-strings hookup. He had the meat-headed jock persona that was perfect for a mindless roll in the hay. She was well past her healthy slutty phase (term used in the most sex-positive way possible) and likely wouldn't have picked him as her decoy love interest had it not been for Botan prying so hard into her not-a-relationship (which involved zero feelings whatsoever!) with Kurama.

Plus, the fact that Chu was already piss-ass drunk was a turn-off of the highest order.

That gourd Chu toted around wasn't for show. No sooner had Rei entered the courtyard where the demons sat around a burning bonfire to eat, drink and make merry than did Botan guide Chu to her and push him into the empty seat at Rei's side. He plopped down and start chatting her ear off, swigging from that gourd while she ate a hasty dinner of rice and curry from a pot over the fire. Botan watched from afar with a smug smile, occasionally leaning over to whisper in Keiko's ear.

"You seem like a nice girl," Chu slurred. "Yeah. Real nice."

Rei glowered. "I haven't been a 'nice girl' since I was 12."

"Is that right?" Chu's lopsided grin grew. "What are ya, then?"

"Yusuke told you: I'm a bad bitch." She shoved the water glass she'd been sipping into his hands. "Drink water, don't die."

"A bad — ?" Chu blinked twice, sleepy, before laughing uproariously (and spilling her water everywhere). "Oi, you're funny!" He leaned in close. "I like funny."

"And I like sober people. Drink the damn water."

The others watched their exchange and laughed, Yusuke and Jin loudest of all. Rei's cheeks burned when she realized she and Chu were basically the night's dinner theater. Ugh, how the hell did she get stuck babysitting the drunk guy? If only she'd thought to call someone else cute. Someone calm and not drunk off his ass, like Touya, or maybe Shishiwakamaru. They were both quite calm, poised and steady amidst the chaos. So was Kurama, who sat near Kuwabara and regarded her interactions with Chu with the same amusement as everyone else. He was watching her with what she thought was amusement, and —

Rei couldn't look at him for long. Instead she looked at Botan and Keiko, who continued to whisper while she tried to keep Chu from barfing on her shoes. (Ugh, gross!) They'd taken her bait and it had backfired tremendously, the pair of them shoving Chu and Rei together like the last members of some endangered specie that needed to repopulate the jungle. Christ, those two...she never should've used Chu as a distraction. It almost made her wish she'd just fessed up to liking Kurama —

Oh. Shit. Judging from the conspiratorial looks in Botan and Keiko's eyes, that's probably what they were planning on. Had they dumped Chu into her lap in the hope that Kurama would look appealing in comparison? A twisted version of "The grass is greener" — the same color as Kurama's beautiful eyes — "on the other side?" Fuck, Rei had underestimated them!

Peeved more at herself than anyone, Rei stood with Chu mid-sentence, walking away without a word while he swayed in his seat, waving his sake gourd at her retreating back.

"Oi, love!" he called out. "Where ya going?"

"To get more water. You spilled mine." When she passed by Botan and Keiko, Rei glared at them and hissed, "Don't think I'm not onto you both, by the way."

Botan gave Rei the most unconvincing look of confusion Rei had ever seen. "Who, us?" she said.

"Whatever do you mean?" Keiko said with the exact same expression on her face.

Yusuke (who sat next to his bride none the wiser) frowned. "What's Yamato talking about?"

Keiko giggled. "Oh, nothing..."

Their giggles intensified in proportion to Rei's glare. Keiko sat curled into Yusuke's side beside the bonfire in the courtyard, his arm wrapped around her even as he chatted with Jin and Rinku. Every now and again he'd turn his head and surreptitiously brush his lips over her forehead or hair, an almost-kiss no one could really call outright PDA. If anything, was a very Punk Display of Affection, Yusuke's own personal version of PDA. He and Keiko had been lovey-dovey all night (when he wasn't getting up and roughhousing with Jin, of course). It was cute to watch and it made Rei want to gag, mostly out of jealousy, but she refused to examine the emotion that bubbled in her chest at the sight of them. Instead she walked away from the main group of people toward a table occupied by the Beautiful Suzuki, who tinkered with some metal contraption under the glare of a lamp he'd dragged outdoors to light his way. An extension cord tracked back toward the temple like a snake stretched over hard cobblestones.

She stood over Suzuki, watching him use a pair of tweezers to fiddle with some wires, for a few moments in silence. When he did not shoo her away, she muttered, "Please tell me that that thing's gonna get my phone up and running again?"

"Yes," he said without looking up. "Shouldn't be long now. Just need to calibrate a few final signal receptors, and..."

A cool voice at her elbow intoned, "Suzuki here is an inventor." Touya had walked up to watch him work, too, blank eyes intent on Suzuki's hands. "One of the best — "

"The best," Suzuki interjected.

" — in the Makai." Touya kept speaking like he hadn't been interrupted; he was probably accustomed to that kind of thing from his prideful friend. "He's been serving the kings for several rounds of succession now."

"They'd be hard-pressed to find a demon more knowledgeable than I." Suzuki at last raised his head, but only so he could thrust his nose in the air. "I am an indispensable — "

"You're amazing, I get it, I get it." Rei pointed at the contraption on the table, which looked both delicate and hefty thanks to the multitude of wires and circuitry spilling from a thick metal casing. "How much longer until I can use my phone?"

"Patience," Suzuki commanded, and he ducked his head back toward his work.

In silence Rei stood to watch him fiddle with the machine. Over her shoulder Chu yelled something about challenging Urameshi to a fight, and Jin let out a rumbustious laugh. She much preferred Touya's silent company and Suzuki's mad-scientist tinkering over Chu's loud squawks, and for a few minutes she luxuriated in the silence of her new companions.

But then she realized she was standing between two literal goldmines, and she opened her mouth again.

"Say. Can I ask you a few questions about the Makai and demons in general?" She held up her hands in preemptive surrender before they could reply. "If that's an invasive question, totally don't feel pressured to answer, by the way."

"It's fine," Suzuki replied, eyes on his work. "I imagine as a human new to this community, you must have many."

"I do." Rei paused. "Did anyone tell you why I'm here, by the way?"

"Yusuke mentioned you needed his help with something," said Touya in a voice like soft snowfall. "He did not elaborate."

"Good man." Rei would need to remember to thank Yusuke later for protecting her privacy. "So...what's the Makai like, anyway? Culturally, I mean. Or is it too big for there to be a single, homogeneous culture? That's how it is here in the Ningenkai."

Suzuki shrugged. "They're similar until they aren't. The Makai is large, but it's deep rather than broad."

"I don't follow."

Without preamble, Suzuki launched into an explanation of the Makai's vertical construction and associated geography. Since the top layer of the Makai was relatively narrow, it connected to only a narrow swatch of the Ningenkai, specifically parts of the Eastern Hemisphere (and these parts included both Japan and Australia, hence Chu's accent and the fact these demons seemed to almost exclusively speak Japanese). He mentioned kingdoms, the largest and most influential of which were now dissolved under the banner of a new, unified government proposed by Yusuke himself. Much of this was information she had already gathered from Yusuke when he told her about his rise to power, but much of it was also new, and she drank down every drop like a woman starving.

"OK, thank you. That's really helpful," she said when he was through. "And the new system of government is determined by a fighting tournament, I've been told. You select a head of state via fighting?"

"Yes."

"Seems odd to me, but then again...culture shock, I guess."

"Barring exceptional cases such as Yusuke and Kuwabara, who boast supernatural powers, most humans remain at a physical power level roughly equal to other humans." Suzuki droned on like a collegiate lecturer, perfunctory and dry. "The physically strongest humans with no supernatural fortifications are only as strong as the weakest demon children. We have a much broader range of physical strength; our strongest members could wipe human countries off the map with a single blow." He did not pause to allow Rei to absorb that terrifying idea. "As a result, we prize fighting prowess over all other forms of social power."

The wheels were already turning in Rei's head. "And because humans have a broader range of strengths in general that lie beyond physical strength, and because those strengths can eclipse our best examples of physical strength, we value a broader range of ideals as a result," she deduced. "Money, influence, beauty, political connections...that's how we derive our governments and rule of law, rather than strength, because our strongest can only impact as far as their physical arms can reach. Money and connections reach a lot further here than punches."

That earned her a sly smile from Suzuki. "You're a sharp one, Yamato," he said with an appreciative nod. "That's exactly right. While political power, ingenuity and social connections do protect weaker demons, to an extent, they are still at the mercy of the strongest of our ranks. The weak among us must go to great lengths to not incur the wrath of those who could kill them with a touch."

"Huh. Interesting." She shuddered as the reality of this sank home. "The Makai sounds incredibly cutthroat. The strong thrive while the weak perish..."

Touya, ever quiet and watchful, nodded, expression grim and detached. Suzuki went back to tinkering. Rei stood in silence, mulling over everything while the sounds of Jin and Yusuke tussling rent the air behind her. Only vaguely did she hear Keiko moan something about them ruining the decor around the temple, a complaint that morphed into a shriek when a hard wind kicked up and Jin presumably launched himself into the sky and Yusuke yelled after him to get back down to planet Earth and fight him, dammit. She ignored it all in order to think. Suzuki's words had triggered a tumble of logical connections inside her head, dominoes falling into the shapes of conclusions she wasn't sure she knew how to properly read.

Suzuki's eyes slid upward; he tutted and shook his head. "Uh oh. I know that look. You're a thinker, just like me. Share your thoughts with the class, Yamato?"

"Let's say there was a weak demon who discovered a power of some kind that could make up for their lack of physical strength," she said. "One that could render another demon's greater physical prowess a moot point. That demon would probably go to great lengths to gain that power for themselves, right?"

Touya's head tilted to the side. "Are you talking about a weapon?"

"It's just a hypothetical."

She dodged answering the question because, in truth, she was talking about her own Sight, and she wasn't entirely sure if that counted as a weapon or not. Suzuki set down his tools and leaned back in his chair, strong arms crossing over his chest as he regarded Rei through narrow eyes. For a minute she wondered if he had seen through her, perhaps realizing she was talking about herself somehow, but eventually he looked away.

"A hypothetical, huh? Well, it's a good one, and I think you're right," Suzuki said. "If a demon could gain a power that would protect them or put them at the level of other, stronger demons, they'd fight tooth and nail to claim it for themselves, I'm sure. That's why I'm an inventor, after all." A cocky grin creased the corner of his mouth. "Don't get me wrong, I'm strong in my own right. But anything that can give me an edge, whether it's a new technique or a revolutionary weapon, I'll gladly utilize."

"Right..." Rei said. "Makes sense."

Obviously her thoughts were with her aunt, apparently slaughtered by the same demon seeking Rei today. What if the demon who'd targeted her was of the weaker sort? The demons in his employ had turn tail and run when they faced Yusuke. They weren't terribly strong, it seemed, so maybe Tutivillus wasn't strong, either. He'd managed to find her in the middle of nowhere through unknown means, though...so maybe he was just cunning. Maybe he was cunning and smart but weak and in search of an edge, one he hoped being able to read the future would provide. It was certainly one explanation for why he sought to claim her power for himself so desperately, and —

Move!

A shudder ran though her as that single word, bell-like and booming, rang through her head and scattered her thoughts to the wind. Rei's scalp prickled beneath her wig, goose-flesh peaking and scratching against the wig's snug net.

MOVE!

"So, Yamato." Suzuki looked her over with shrewd intensity, oblivious. "Yusuke was pretty tight-lipped about why you were here. Wanna clue us in? Gotta say it was a surprise to see an unfamiliar face at Genkai's temple. Yusuke tends to keep his circle close, and — "

"Suzuki, Touya." To Rei's surprise, her voice held perfectly steady. "I need you to listen to me."

Suzuki's brow shot up. "Eh?"

"Both of you, grab this table and move it that way at least five meters." She pointed off to the left. "No, six."

"What are you — ?"

MOVE! the voice boomed again, and this time it rattled Rei's teeth from the inside out.

"Don't ask me to explain; just do it." At their blank expressions, she sighed and clasped her hands together so she could theatrically beg, "Please. For the sake of my cell reception, please move the fucking table." When they still did not react, she stomped her foot and shouted, "NOW!"

At last the two demons moved, carrying the table in Rei's prescribed direction. Suzuki grumbled all the while, and once they relocated the table to Rei's satisfaction, he stood there staring at her and tapped his foot in an exaggerated show of impatience. Rei ignored him, though. She stared at the sky, heart in her mouth, pulse beating like a galloping horse in her wrists. A terrible feeling had settled over her when the directive to MOVE boomed so loudly in her head. It was an oncoming storm, a cold front blowing in on a harsh wind that promised destruction...but neither Suzuki nor Touya could feel what she could. Suzuki just looked disgruntled and pissed to be interrupted, and Touya watched Rei with curiosity — and then, like a bolt from the blue, there came a bellow. Rei leapt back and gave a muffled shriek as Jin sailed in and slammed onto the pavement, bouncing and skidding across the courtyard cobblestones before coming to a stop in a groaning heap.

He had crash landed, of course, exactly where the table of delicate equipment had been only a minute prior.

"Wow. OK." Rei put a hand to her thundering heart and sighed. "Thanks, Grandma Himiko..."

Suzuki looked between her, Jin and the table in turns, mouth hanging quite agape. "That was — what was that?" he eventually stammered. "How did you do that?"

Touya's eyes glittered. All he said was: "Interesting."

Genkai appeared at her elbow (from where, Rei had no fucking clue). "Yamato. Did you just — ?"

"See him falling out of the sky before he fell? Sort of," she said. "More like I felt...I don't know, it was weird. I just kind of knew the table needed to move, so I — "

"Apologies for interrupting, but what are you talking about?" This came from Shishiwakamaru, who had walked over to study the scene before him with a scowl. "What just happened here?"

Rei and Genkai exchanged a long look.

Eventually, Genkai nodded.

Rei took a deep breath.

"It's a long story, but short version...it turns out I can see the future." She grinned as a thrill traced electricity through her very bones. "And I think, with some practice, I'm going to be pretty damn good at it."


been a while, hi friends, i am alive and rei is still with us

those who follow this on AO3 will notice the story got a new rating (E for explicit), new tags (FWB, to name one) and a much longer summary since my last update...i think those changes are worth looking at if you'd like a clearer idea of where this story is headed...though i should mention that due to ffnet's TOS, this version of The Sight Unseen will remain PG-13 throughout its run...on AO3, meanwhile, all bets are off and things will end up being very spicy

related: do people still use the term "lemon?" I AM OLD, I HAVE NO CLUE LMAO

these peeps made my day by reviewing and i swear to god i'd die for you like yusuke when he's feeling particularly affectionate: cezarina, katsip12, lady skynet, american nidiot, violetita, and cherryberry123!