Maya.

I sunk into the tub's warm water, thankful to finally wash up. I couldn't feel my limbs and the water was perfect to soothe them. With a tired sigh, I sunk even deeper into the water and closed my eyes. As the water swayed slowly under my nose, caressing the bottom half of my face, I heard the sliding door to the wash room open.

"Ah. Sorry, Maya." Miyuki's voice carried from the wash room. "I didn't know you were in here still. Are you going to take much longer?"

"To be honest…" Too tired to push myself upright, I lifted my head up. "Yeah. You can join if you want. I may fall asleep in here and that won't be fair."

There was a long pause before Miyuki replied. "…Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I don't care."

I'd been running around the forest and compound practically half naked anyway. Genkai's training tore my clothes to shreds.

"…Alright." Her voice was soft, quiet and unsure.

I leaned back in the large tub, taking another deep breath and relishing the near scalding water.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew Miyuki was sitting across from me in the tub, wet hair pinned up.

"You like your water hotter than hell," Miyuki sighed, leaning back.

"Sorry, I can't bathe any other way," I laughed. "At home we just have a shower and I may come out red afterwards but it's the only way to wash myself."

Miyuki just stared at me for a moment, making me a bit uneasy. I couldn't fathom what kind of look she was giving me because it was all so… mixed.

Finally, after a bout of awkward silence, she spoke. "I'm guessing you invited me in to make me feel comfortable."

The words took a minute to click and I all but shot out the water. I sat upright quickly. "Oh, no! No! That's not why at all. I just… I don't mind." Miyuki's look turned skeptical, a bit confused, and, dare I say, sad. I didn't want her to feel that way. "Honest. I don't mind. I had to change in front of girls all the time for gym class so I'm kind of used to it."

Miyuki's lips puckered for a moment and then she sunk lower into the water. We sat in silence as I racked my brain for conversations. Something to show her that wasn't what this was about. Her voice pulled me out of my frantic thinking in surprise.

"A criminal hired the triad I was part of," she said, and I leaned forward, bringing my knees to my chest to listen to her story. "We would receive half of the payment up front to be their body guards. After our contract ended we would receive the rest of the payment."

"How much did you get?" I asked.

She stared at me for a minute, face draining of emotion. "Instead of money, I asked for my payment to be reconstructive surgery."

"Oh..."

"As you noticed, I received the first payment but not the second."

Oh…?

"Oh…" It dawned on me. "Why not? Did he swindle you?"

"I didn't hold up my end of the contract. I failed to protect him," she replied. "I feel it's a suitable turn of events, considering."

"Considering what?"

"He was a man who sought money—a lot of it. He had plenty but wanted more. So he would use others to make money."

The first thing that came to mind flew out my mouth in a gasp. "Sex trafficking?"

"No. At least, not when I was working for him. He had his sight set on the ice maidens." I didn't know what or who they were, so I couldn't respond. With a wash of shame overcoming her features, she filled me in. "They're youkai. Their tears solidify into gems that sell for a nice amount. If he could find a maiden and make her shed tears, he would be rich. And he found one."

I was already stunned by the fact she participated in that, but what she said next might as well have knocked me on my ass.

"He found Yukina."

Jaw dropped. I didn't even bother trying to scrape it off the bottom of the tub. She gave me a heartfelt look, one of shame and embarrassment.

"That's… Does Yukina know? She can't possibly know, I mean—"

Miyuki finished my sentence with a pitiful chuckle. "Because she's so kind to me? Heh. Yeah… If she knows, she does a swell job hiding it."

"Does Genkai know?"

Miyuki nodded.

"Have you… You haven't even tried to apologize?"

She shook her head. "I want to, but there's another part of me—the selfish, cowardice part—that figures if she doesn't know... Then why bother?"

I scooted across the tub towards her, starting waves in the water as I perched myself next to her. She avoided eye contact and looked at the water below.

I tried thinking of a response. I was always on the victim's side. Now I tried thinking she was him. I had to push her to do what was right.

"It means everything to the person you hurt." The words flew out easily. It was something I wished for years now that I could say to him. I placed my hand on her cold shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Apologizing without wanting forgiveness in return shows how truly remorseful you are."

"I am," she grumbled. "I just…"

"It's scary admitting what you did was wrong," I agreed and pulled my hand back into the warm, welcoming water. "But you need to do the right thing, Miyuki. You need to tell her and apologize."

"I know." Miyuki nodded. "Just let me pack my things first."

My hands shot out the water and gripped her shoulders. I turned her towards me and her face fell in confused surprise.

"No!" I shook her firmly but gently, feeling the cold air rush around my bare skin. Locks of her purple hair spilled out of her bun and some of her fringe spilled over the horn on her forehead. "No. You don't get to make that decision. That's not fair to Yukina."

"Then, what? Ask her if she wants me to leave?" She gave me a skeptical look.

"No." I retrieved my hands and pulled them back into the water. "You ask her what she wants you to do to repent. She's the one you hurt. She's the one you're apologizing to. She's the one who will tell you how she'd like to deal with it. You don't get to make that choice for her."

Miyuki stared me down for a while, processing the words, before she gave a solemn nod. "You're right." She looked back up at me with a sad smirk, eyes filled with gratitude. "How are so smart about this stuff, huh?"

She nudged her elbow into my side and I laughed. "I just…" My smile faded and I chose my words carefully. I realized there was no nice way to say it. "I'm tired of seeing abusers get away with it."

Miyuki's entire aura shifted, and so did her body. She turned away from me and faced the other end of the bath. I looked down at the water, watching the little waves settle as we sat in silence.

I had nothing else to say.

Yeah, my thoughts of her changed. But part of me wanted to like her still. She was so genuinely nice, followed Genkai's orders. How bad was a person who wanted to repent for what they did? Was the forgiveness enough? Did that erase their sins?

I would never forgive that man for what he did; I'd never forgive any man like him. Any person like him. They could get on both knees and lick the bottom of my shoes for forgiveness and I'd spit on them.

But here I was sympathizing with Miyuki.

It was because she wanted to make things right for what she'd done wrong.

She reached for her towel and stood from the tub before wrapping herself. Slowly, she made her way out.

My gaze never left the water which now swayed heavily from her movements. The thought of her hurting was ephemeral. All I could wonder was whether trying to right your wrongs erased the wounds they made.

Kurama.

She was physically distant lately. She was currently lying in my bed, facing the wall and reading some comic. I let her be. I thought perhaps her father was bothering her or maybe it was something about her junior high years.

I waited for her to come to me when she was ready.

One afternoon, she finally did.

She sat upright in my bed and sighed. I turned in my chair from my desk and looked to her. She dragged her fingers through her hair, pulling it out of her face, and then rested her elbow on her knee and looked over to me.

"I need to ask you something serious," she said, voice quiet.

I stood from the chair and made my way to the bed. I sat on the edge, across from her, and nodded, waiting for her to ask whatever it was. I expected something about her family, possibly even Yomi or my past, but the question took me by surprise.

"When you were… not in this human body, did you…" she paused and pursed her lips. "Eat humans?"

She waited for me to respond, but the question floored me. This was not the direction I expected the conversation to take.

"So you did," she mumbled, eyes falling to the blanket below.

"Rarely," I replied. "Before I gained my more… humanoid form, I did."

It's rare for us foxes to eat humans—it was often blamed on other youkai when a body's remains turned up because of us. When we were freer in Ningenkai, we didn't necessarily have a bad reputation among humans—we were mischievous, and malicious at most—but we were youkai. We're carnivores.

And with the life I led—that I wanted to lead—hunting animals was easy, but hunting a human took far less effort and satisfied my hunger much longer than any wildlife did. And so, I preyed upon fewer humans than the fingers I had on my right hand.

She nodded and took a deep breath. Shoving her face into her hands, she raked her fingers through her hair.

"Will you tell me why you did?" she whispered.

I didn't know whether the truth would ease her or make her worry. The reason wasn't malicious, it was simply…

"When I was a fox—a young, and weak fox—they were my easiest prey."

Callous.

There was another moment of silence. I wondered if I should have lied, but I knew with her that would make the outcome worse.

"Okay… Okay, I want the truth," she said, and then looked up to me. "I want your side."

"Are they accusing me of eating humans now?" I asked.

"No," she said. If she had said 'yes' I would have outright laughed in her face. "Natsume showed me some files, and I just… I want to know if all youkai eat humans. If they need to so they can survive or…"

I made myself comfortable on the bed. She waited for me to explain—tell her that Natsume was lying or that they were just those few. Unfortunately, I couldn't do that.

"Reikai didn't put up the barrier until a couple hundred years ago," I explained. "And humans and youkai have both been around for as long as we can remember. Youkai don't need human flesh, per se, but we need meat to survive. We're carnivores."

"So any animal will do?"

I nodded. "The problem is evolution and tradition."

"Tradition?" Her face fell in fear.

I held my hands up to pacify her. "The strong could eat the weak. We could also spend money at venders for substantial meat like anyone else, or we could eat an… easier prey."

"So after hundreds of thousands of years…" she breathed.

"Youkai's eating habits evolved."

"It became a necessity." She put her face in her hands again, sighing.

"Not necessarily," I reassured her. "While, yes, humans satisfy our hunger for much longer, eating meat from any other animal will sustain us as well. It's just not as… 'healthy' as it would be to eat humans. One who eats humans will live just a fraction longer than one who does not. It doesn't make that much of a difference."

"So then it's tradition! That's even worse!" she cried, hands flying from her face. "That's even worse, Kurama."

"Aiko." I tried pacifying her, she was breaking. Stress emitted from her in waves, she was on the verge of tears. "What brought this on?"

"I have to fix this!" she replied, hand pressing against her forehead. "I have to figure out how to fix this."

"You cannot change hundreds of thousands of years of evolution and tradition," I reassured her. "This is not something you can fix."

"I have to do something about it," she argued, propping herself up on her knees and shifting the bed. She gripped my arms, squeezing them gently. "They're using this to justify whatever they're doing."

I placed my hands on her shoulders. "Aiko, you can't solve all the world's problems."

"I…" she paused and looked down at the blanket again. Then, seconds later, she brought her eyes back up to meet mine. She seemed defeated, almost. "Koenma knows they eat humans, doesn't he? That's why the barrier's up."

"You knew it was up for this reason."

She shook her head. "I thought it was because they would kill us and yeah... Yeah, some of them may eat us but I didn't think this was some fucking cultural thing, Kurama! I didn't think we're your food source!"

There was no point in arguing with her, trying to pacify her. She could do nothing about youkai's nature and neither could I.

We stared at each other and after a few seconds she sat back on the bed. Finally, she resigned.

"I'm sorry… I know it's not your fault," she whispered, keeping her eyes on the blanket. "It's just biology…"

"Aiko." I shook her shoulder's gently again and she looked up to me. "This isn't an issue you can fix."

She gritted her teeth and hung her head. "But if I let it go, I'm no better than Natsume and them. I'm just as bad to let people get hurt when I can prevent it."

I wasn't sure why I said it. I supposed it was going to be my best bet to get through to her. "Why do you insist on carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders?"

But she replied without missing a beat, not offended in the slightest. "Because I was asked."

I had no reply, and she took that moment of silence to lean in. She wrapped her arms around neck and pulled herself upon me.

"Somebody else has to this time," she mumbled. "Someone else has to shoulder the weight for once."

With a sigh, I rested my hands on the small of her back. Her familiar perfume wafted around me, clogging my nose. I didn't mind it. What I did mind was her thoughts now.

She felt my hand on the small of her back lift slightly, and so she squeezed me tighter.

"If you're not comfortable trusting me anymore, that's fine," I said, and she didn't move.

She didn't respond. She just held onto me in silence. After what felt like a few minutes, she mumbled into my neck. "I've trusted you with things more important than my life already. Eating me is the least bad thing you could do." Because touching her when she didn't want to be was far harder for her to deal with.

Death was often quick—it was something usually definite. The end all be all. Death paled in comparison to surviving traumatic events.

"And even then, I trust you wouldn't do that to me—or anyone," she finished. "Not anymore."

And all I could think was: why? Why did she trust me so easily?

I hadn't done that much, had I? Was it something as simple as respecting her personal space? Had someone so horribly violated her to the point where even such a simple gesture meant the utmost trust?

Or was it simply part of her nature? That once she decided to trust you, that was it.

Or was she naïve?

I rested my head atop hers, unsure why she would trust me so. It wasn't something I didn't want—it was something I didn't expect. Not after this conversation.

I found I was glad she still chose to, even though I also found myself guilty for feeling glad—relieved, even. After the life I lived, I didn't exactly deserve her, let alone my mother.

And then she mumbled something so low that had I not had acute hearing, I would have missed it. "I trust you won't break my faith in you."

Sixteen years and I'd gone soft.

"I won't, trust me." I smiled, feeling her laughter on my neck.

When her laughter died out, she still held onto me. The previous conversation still lingered in the air, the stress still stiff in her body.

"Let's start with one issue at a time," I said. "What's something you can address right now?"

She sighed and pulled away, sitting in my lap. "Well, the tape came up again. Have you seen any of it?"

"No."

"Yusuke?"

"No, but…" I remembered Sensui kidnapping Kuwabara during the fight in the city. "There is a small chance Kuwabara saw some of it."

She heaved a sigh and I reassured her we could talk to him tomorrow. She was reluctant then and she was reluctant the next day as we stood outside Kuwabara's room.

"I mean, it's worth a shot… right?" she asked.

I could feel Shizuru staring daggers into my back and watching us in curiosity down the hall. As much as I wanted to say her suspicion was unnecessary, we didn't often come over to spend time together.

I nodded and she knocked on the door. "Kazuma? It's Aiko and Kurama."

In just a few seconds, the door opened to reveal Kuwabara in pajamas and some sort of head bandanna that had the kanji for "fight!" on it in bright red. I peered over his shoulder to find books strewn around his desk.

He was studying for classes and high school entrance exams.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" He grinned to us and moved out of the way.

We walked into his room and Aiko took a seat on his bed, bouncing slightly as she hit the blankets.

"I just… needed to ask you something," Aiko said.

He looked between the two of us. "Something wrong? Some new bad guy running around—"

"Nothing like that," I reassured him.

"Well we never really see each other unless something's up."

Aiko bit her lip and sent me a sad glance before thinking of something. "Well, I have an important question but I was also dropping by to see if you needed help studying in any subject."

"Sure, what's the question?" Kuwabara asked as he sat back in his chair. "What's important between us if there's no new danger?"

"Sensui's group kidnapped you, right?" she asked.

"Uh… yeah. Why?"

"When you were with them, did he do anything in particular?" She was beating around the bush.

Kuwabara looked to me in confusion, wondering what we were getting at. "You're going to have to elaborate, Aiko. What are you trying to say?"

"Was the tape playing?" she asked, and Kuwabara stared at her.

"Kuwabara?" I stepped closer to him and he cleared his throat, shaking his head.

"Uh, yeah. He had it playing. Why?"

We watched him turn around in the chair and face his work.

Aiko treaded carefully. "I, uh… I was wondering if you watched any of it."

"What's going on that you're not telling me, Aiko?" He didn't turn around.

"Kazuma, it's… it's my problem to deal with, okay?" she spoke gently. "I just need to know if you saw any of it."

"Yeah, I did."

"Do you happen to know the era?" she asked.

Kuwabara shook his head. "No. The clothed ones dressed pretty modern, though."

"If I, um… If I can bring in some photographs, do you think you could pick people out?" she asked.

Kuwabara turned around this time, a bit irritated. "I don't like being the only one left out of things, you know? Urameshi, Hiei, and even Kurama's leaving to Makai." He gestured to me and then pointed an accusatory finger at her. "And now you're into something. I'm capable of helping out, you know."

"It's not that you aren't!" Aiko reasoned, hands up to placate him. "It's just… I got myself into this, Kazuma. You have things going for you, okay? I don't—I have to do this."

Kuwabara and I stared at her for a moment, letting her words sink in. Before either of us could turn this on her, she quickly ruined the chance.

"So, could you help me? Could you pick out some faces if I gave you some?"

Kuwabara thought for a minute. "Yeah, if you tell me what's going on."

"I'm looking into Border Patrol stuff," she said. "Koenma thinks Natsume's up to something."

Kuwabara nodded. "Yeah… yeah, I can try to pick out faces."

She smiled and stood from the bed. "Great! Thanks, Kazuma!" She moved to where he sat and looked over his shoulder. "So what are you working on? Need any help?"

"Oh, yeah, this algebra two stuff—"

"Aiko." Shizuru's voice came from the now open door. The three of us turned to find her under the threshold. "Can I talk to you about something? Alone?"

Aiko sent me a glance and nodded to Kuwabara before smiling to Shizuru. "Yeah, sure."

Kuwabara watched her follow Shizuru into the hallway and let out a sigh. "Shizuru hates it when someone brings up that video."

"Why?" I asked, taking Aiko's seat on the bed. "Did it mess with you, Kuwabara?"

"Eh, I mean… it's like the stuff you see in horror movies, you know?" He shrugged and picked up his pencil to work on the sheet of paper in front of him. "And I was able to look away. It wasn't like he forced my eyes open or anything."

"You could still hear everything, though," I noted.

"Well, yeah…"

He scribbled on his paper, working out a formula teachers forced us to memorize in my junior high years. I watched him work. He pushed away the memories he so easily ignored in the heat of the battle.

Even if he hadn't watched it all, to hear the content—the screams and cries of terror and pain for hours... It had to have affected him somehow. And yet even after all those hours, he still chose to fight by our side.

He still chose to save Ningenkai.

But then, I remembered his choice to slice open the barrier.

Though I was fighting for Ningenkai, I knew I would have made the same choice. But with everything he heard, whatever he saw, did it occur to him to not care about what happened to this realm? If we lost, if Yusuke hadn't resurrected, did it occur to him what would happen to this realm?

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Kuwabara asked, shuddering a bit. "It's giving me the creeps."

"Ah," I laughed. "Sorry, I spaced out in thought."

Kuwabara stared at me for a moment and turned in the chair. "It didn't make me change the way I think about us humans."

"After everything you've seen, you don't feel any different towards your species?" I asked.

He scratched behind his ear with his pencil's eraser, sighing in thought. "Well, I mean. I know there are bad people. Really bad people. Like Sensui. Like Tarukane, who took Yukina. Like the Dark Tournament Committee. And a whole lot of other people—regular people. But, I mean… there are good people too, you know?" He shrugged. "My sister's one of them, even though she'd break my arm for burning her toast or something. Aiko's a good person. Keiko's a good person. There are good people."

I found myself smiling. "You're a good person."

He laughed. "Yeah, I guess. I just… yeah, I don't see humans the same way anymore after all this. But it's like that law in America, you know? Innocent until proven guilty. Amendment…" He turned back to his desk and shuffled through some papers. "Amendment five. I'll always see us in a different light now, but I don't want to turn into the guys we fought. I don't want to be like them. Especially not like Sensui."

"Kuwabara, I don't think you could even if you wanted to."

"Is that a wise-crack?"

I laughed. "Of course not. I mean it genuinely."

A knock on the open door dragged our attention to Aiko. "Hey, uh… I'm going to head out. Are you staying, Kurama?"

Before I could even glance to Kuwabara, he answered for me. "Nah, you two go on. I'll call you both up when I need some help. I've got a mock exam soon and I'm actually going to take it."

"Sure, I'm getting good at calculus." She winked. "Call me for that or English Literature."

"Don't call her for English Language," I noted, standing up.

"The fuck's that supposed to mean?" she spat.

"Speak some English."

"I can read and write it just fine." She turned her nose up to me and looked to Kuwabara. "Just call me whenever you want to hang out—we should go see a movie sometime. My treat."

He gave us both a grin. "Yeah, for sure."

We bid Kuwabara farewell, and I waited until we exited the household and walked a few more minutes in the bright afternoon's sun before asking what Shizuru wanted. Before I could, she beat me to it.

"She did not want me bringing that video up to him."

"What did she say?"

She looked up at me, worry spread on her features. "It changed him. I mean, I know I don't know him that well but he's good at hiding it then. I mean, I knew if he saw that then it would have affected him but still…"

"It did," I told her. "In a way."

"He's really good at hiding it then," she scoffed. "If I saw what was on that video, I'd be a whole different person. I wouldn't be able to hide it like that… Is he really okay?"

"Aiko." I reached my hand out to her shoulder, and she stopped and turned towards me. A gust of wind swept past us, giving her goose bumps on her bare arms, and I placed my hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to worry about Kuwabara. He'll be fine. Shizuru's only looking out for him."

She began fretting, talking fast. "I want to be around him and help him, you know? But everything with Border Patrol and how he may be able to pick someone out on the video or—"

"Don't worry, Aiko." I placed my other hand on her other shoulder. "Trust me; I'll make sure he's fine."

"He's my friend too, you know? I need to do something. Especially if I'm giving him pictures to pick people out… I don't want to have to ask anything more of him."

"You don't have to," I reminded her. "I'm here."

She forced a smile, one of appreciation though laced with doubt. She placed her hands on mine. "But if there's something on that video and we open pandora's box, I'll need more than you. I'll need a lot of help. And… I don't want to burden anyone else—not with this. Kazuma's working on his way to live a normal life; if he studies hard he can go places. I can't ask him to get involved in this. And I'm worried I may end up needing manpower."

Brown eyes wanted to break away from mine, revealing anxiety and worry of what was truly happening.

"What's really going on?" I asked, and she shook her head and let her eyes fall to the floor.

"I don't know. I still don't know… but it's something bad, Kurama…" Her eyes shot up to see mine, and with a deep breath she continued. "I was expecting something big; I was already scared, but this is… I'm worried about this. The things she said to me seemed so simple but..."

"You're not alone in this," I reassured her, and she gave me a sad smile.

"I know…" She squeezed my hands and let her eyes fall again.

Another brush of wind swept our hair up, and hers fluttered wildly for a moment before settling on her shoulders in a mess. Her thumbs rubbed gently over the back of my hand, grip still tight to keep me standing.

We didn't bother moving, neither of us exactly excited to head to her apartment to look through textbooks. The few seconds that lingered were calm, peaceful. It left an ominous cloud lingering in the back of both our minds.

Aiko.

"You're late for your mandatory community service." My dad leaned against the door's threshold, arms cross over his chest.

"He knows I'm showing up late today," I replied, making sure the outfit Yukina made for me was still shoved at the bottom of my backpack.

I put my face into the bag, smelling the clothing since I couldn't remember if I washed it.

Eugh. Fuck. Nope.

Oh well. They'd just have to put up with me smelling like sweat and body odor.

"How much longer are you doing it?" he asked, and I looked over my shoulder to see him. "You haven't built up enough for your applications?"

"I don't know. Until they feel I'm caught up on club activity hours I guess." I shrugged. "I don't exactly mind being there."

"They have you doing heavy lifting," he noted. "You're gaining muscle."

I hadn't noticed. I tried not to think about how I was looking thicker—how I was gaining weight. With all the stress I was under, it was a miracle I wasn't going the extra mile to starve myself to compensate for the muscle growth.

My clothes still fit—they were tighter, but they still fit.

If they didn't, I'd spiral into self-loathing but… I was mentally preparing myself for the inevitable. I was, honest…

Because I had so much riding on my health, my stamina. I needed to eat… and I did. I tried every weekend to convince myself it was all healthy food and that it wouldn't hurt to eat. It wouldn't hurt to eat.

So long as I didn't stare at my body too long I could manage. So long as I didn't bend or twist the wrong way and saw something unsightly, something pudgy...

"Yeah, I have to clean the rooms and the rest of the building too." I always made sure to never mention it was a temple. I mentioned Genkai's place to him before but I couldn't remember whether I told him it was a temple. My best bet was to keep it vague, play with half-truths. "Then I have to do yard work and all that other stuff."

"I told you," he said. "You should have joined clubs in the beginning so they wouldn't force you to do it so you could have something on your applications."

"Yeah, yeah. I know," I mumbled. "I don't mind it, though. The people there are nice."

I didn't mind it. Well, I did, but I needed the alibi. Every other weekend I'd head to Tohoku and play with Natsume. I was copying her. Imitation was the sincerest form of flattery.

Not only that, but familiarity breeds comfort, which breeds trust. I was on better terms than I had ever been with them.

I felt like an undercover cop—in a way, I was. It was like I was infiltrating a group of skin heads and I was regurgitating to them what they wanted to hear. All I did was say what they said with new wording. Hell, sometimes I repeated shit verbatim and I'd get praise and trust thrown my way.

And her hatred showed more each time I visited. And each time it showed, it became more and more disturbingly disgusting.

I went to the dealer's a couple more times with Natsume to pick up some prescription drugs but nothing else happened. I felt she didn't trust me enough yet. I had to think of something that would let me in on their real secrets. More of those files, maybe. Haruko said there were files public throughout Reikai, so what were the "private" files?

Koenma was still trying to figure what they used to create that void and why. He wasn't keen on asking his father so he took it upon himself to sort through a list of Reikai's items.

Which was apparently longer than Kurama's rap sheet.

I would have gotten an answer sooner if I'd went to him about the void thing earlier, but at the time I was upset over what Natsume showed me. I didn't want to talk to Koenma about it because I knew he knew. He wasn't hiding it from me—in fact, just like Kurama, I figured he thought I knew already.

I shoved a few items of clothing and some tennis shoes into the backpack and zipped it closed.

When I heard his footsteps traveling down the hallway I decided to take my last items. The keychains.

I'd been saving them for this day... Well, this night.

Tonight was the night Kurama left to Makai.

I thought he would leave in Irima's Cave. But since the SDF opened the barrier once on Genkai's compound, they damaged it enough to let Koenma open and close it.

Another part of the idea was that if they noted him leaving and found out about him, they'll already have him recorded in Makai. The usual problem applied, since whenever he returned to Ningenkai he'd have to lay low.

But that was nothing new for him.

Before I could head out of my room, Minoru came bolting down the hallway at me. He jumped on me, wrapping his arms around my waist and legs around my hips.

"I'm going to take ballet lessons!" he yelled with glee.

Huh?

"We can afford that?" I took my dumbfounded look from Minoru and sent it down the hall to my dad, who was rolling his eyes.

"That's the only thing you can think of?" he asked. "What about the fact he's a boy?"

"Boys can dance."

"Ballet?"

"Mami was showing me the moves she learned in her class and it's so beautiful!" Minoru said, dragging my eyes back to him. Soto, Mami was one of the two only friends he had at school. "I want to dance like her."

I looked back to my dad. "…Yeah."

"He only has two friends and he'll lose the other—the only boy friend he has—to ballet."

Thank god for all those karaoke nights.

"He can dance if he wants to. He can leave his friends behind." I dragged my feet along the wood floor, awkwardly moonwalking backwards to the beat of the American eighties hit. "Because if his friends don't dance and if they don't dance, well they're no friends of mine."

"Your mom should have swallowed you," he grumbled. "Get your dumbass to your community service."

His comment flew over my head because he'd said much worse before. Minoru slid off me and hit the ground with a small thump. I ruffled his hair and headed to the front door.

"If dad tries to take this away from you when we can afford it, tell mom!" I called, earning the stink eye from my dad.

"Leave."

"Okay! Have fun, sis!" Minoru called after me as I shut the door behind me. "See you after summer break!"

"Bye!"

I debated whether I wanted my key-chain on my backpack or my school bag throughout the whole bus ride to Genkai's. I figured I'd see it more often on my school bag when summer break was over.

Breathless after reaching the top of the mountain, I looked around the dark compound. Genkai didn't often kept the lights on, but since company was here, the compound was alight.

Sliding the shoji door open, I greeted the compound's regulars and set my backpack at the table. The chatter was lively among the group of girls, and I looked around for Kurama, Genkai, or Koenma.

"They're at the dojo waiting for you," Yukina said, having watched me scan the entire living room. "Or… they may have already set out into the woods."

"Thanks, Yukina," I said as I knelt and rummaged through my backpack for the key-chains. "I'll be back in a few."

Stepping back out into the cool night air, I found they weren't at the dojo. Jogging out into the woods, I came upon the clearing where Yusuke left months ago.

"You think you could sneak off without me being here, huh?" I called, voice echoing throughout the quiet mountain. "Haven't you learned yet? You can't get rid of me."

Kurama turned to greet me with an obnoxiously wry smile and I continued jogging to meet him and Koenma. Genkai wasn't here.

The bitch was probably going to ambush me on the way back to the compound.

As I slowed to a stop next to Kurama, Koenma opened a small rip in the dimension. It was smaller than the portal Yusuke's crew went through. The telltale smell of rotting corpses and what might as well have been three day old dog shit that'd been sitting in the summer sun seeped through the portal. It traveled slowly at first, but once it reached me it punched me in the face like I owed it money.

I refrained from putting my hand over my nose and mouth and tried to tough it out. After a while, the smell wouldn't bother me too much.

"You remember what we talked about?" Koenma asked, and Kurama nodded.

"What?" I asked, looking up to Kurama.

Kurama answered for Koenma. "I'll repress my ki as much as possible to ensure it doesn't tip off any patrol."

"Even if it does, it'll be like you left to Makai and never came back though, right?"

"So long as everything works out with the tunnel in Irima's Cave." He nodded and then looked over to the current portal. "It will be a bit hard getting back to Ningenkai, the portal's in the sky there."

Koenma passed by and nodded to Kurama. "I'll leave you two then. Good luck, Kurama."

"Thank you, Koenma."

And he paused next to me. "I've found some of the more plausible reasons the dealership is a void. See me after this."

I nodded, and Kurama and I watched him disappear into the woods. I then remembered my key-chains and held his up.

"I got you a present!" I smiled, watching the fox tail dangle in front of his face. "To remind you that you can never get rid of me."

"I learned that a long time ago." He took the key-chain by the tail and looked at the coloring.

"I have one too," I said, holding my up as well. He looked at the plush, cartoon cat face. "I thought about giving you this one but figured the fox tail suited you best. I kept it in my backpack for a few months so my scent would stick to it."

He retrieved his hand from the tail and I watched as his face turned to one of exasperated disgust. "That's a step too far."

I laughed. "I know, I'm kidding. I put some of my ki on it." I then grabbed his backpack and stepped closer to him, looking for the zipper. "I was thinking of asking you to put your ki on mine, but I didn't think that'd be a good idea, considering Natsume and all."

"And you didn't think the same for your ki to be with me in Makai?" he asked, watching me loop the key-chain to the zipper.

I smiled and pushed the little chain around, watching it curl into the hole. "I'm Border Patrol, remember?"

We stood in silence as I tugged on the key-chain to make sure it was sturdy. I turned to look up at him and then glanced to the disgusting portal. I hated that he had to leave but was glad he would be returning… so he said. At least his trip wasn't definite like Yusuke's.

I wasn't sure how I'd feel if I didn't have the small hope of him returning. I already lost Yusuke for god knows how long; I didn't want to lose him too.

"I'm routing the house number to the phone in Yomi's tower when I arrive," he said, and I looked up at him again. "I'll call Genkai's mainland to tell you what's happening and when it's fine to call, if you ever need to."

I nodded and forced a smile. "Shiori will probably call you three times a day to make sure you're eating."

"She should send those calls to you," he said, and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm eating," I replied. "Here, especially. I feel like if I don't eat what Genkai gives me, she'll shove her fist down my throat and rip out my stomach."

He knew better than to reply about how I minimized my meals when I wasn't here and kept the conversation light. Anything but bitter and sour.

"And you'll be back the day before school starts up again, or the day of?" I asked.

"Night before," he replied, and I looked to the portal once more. I hated its smell. "Aiko."

"Hm?" I looked back to him and found his hand hovering over my shoulder. I nodded, and it rested in the nook between my neck and shoulder.

"I'll be back."

I wrapped my arms around him, pressing my face into his leather jacket. I wanted him to return—I didn't want him to leave like Yusuke.

Kazuma would be all I had left. He was good company, but I didn't feel the same about him like I did Kurama. It wasn't even close to the same. Kazuma was an amazing friend, and I'd cry all the same if he left to Makai—but this was different.

He rested his arm around my shoulder. "You know you can always call if something happens."

I nodded, face rubbing against the cool, soft leather. "Yeah, I know…"

And there was the chance Kurama wouldn't return. He could remember how much his past life suited him, how powerful and untouchable he was, and stay.

And I would be left here. Kazuma and I would be left here to twiddle our thumbs as we waited and hoped they'd return.

"Aiko."

I grunted in response, tightening my hold.

"I'll be back after summer break."

Mhm… Of course he would.

I finally let him go and stepped back, but I found myself still gripping the sleeve of his jacket. I mustered the best smile I could despite not being able to pry my fingers from his sleeve. "I'll see you then."

He gently squeezed my shoulder in hopes of soothing me enough to let him go. Instead, I found myself pulling my face up to meet his. Lips pressed against his, I forgot how to breathe.

My chest swelled like it had the day at the docks, and I felt my face heating up in embarrassment once more. I could feel his smile under my lips, and I knew I messed up again.

As we tried suppressing laughter, I pulled away briefly to try once more. His finger guided my lips to part slightly, and he taught me again.

I wondered if I'd have another chance to learn after tonight.

He pulled away. We said goodbye. A weight deep in my stomach told me there was I large chance I wouldn't.

I found Koenma in the common room alone. A small cup of tea sat in front of him and he was and stamping papers, flipping through them without much thought at all. He seemed so engrossed in not paying attention to what he was stamping he jumped as I shut the shoji door behind me.

"After all this time searching for what the void could be, what you found better be it," I said, walking to the small table.

"After all this time undercover, you better have found more information," he retorted with blithe nonchalance.

"Hit me where it hurts," I droned and sat across the table from him. "What do we have?"

He stamped one more paper and then set it in the pile to his left. He heaved the still large pile on his right off the table and set them next to him on the floor. Reaching behind him, he pulled out a manila folder.

"There were two possibilities I found last night," he said, turning the folder around for me to take. "But only one made sense."

I opened the folder, finding a lone, thin sheet of paper with… what?

"This isn't… Is this hiragana?" I asked, squinting at the unfamiliar characters on the talisman.

"Hentaigana," he replied. *

"Jesus Christ, how old is this thing?" I pinched it between my index finger and thumb and held it up.

"The binder made it a few months ago."

I looked at him for a few good minutes but he didn't say anything. I had a feeling he wasn't going to explain what a binder was so I had to assume it was someone who made the talismans.

"Get with the fucking times, Reikai. It's the twentieth century."

"That's how the binder wanted to write it. Syllabary styles vary among binders."

"Okay, so are you going to explain or keep talking to me about this like I know what it is?"

"I'll have you know I spent weeks finding a way to get my hands on one of those without rising suspicion. I'll talk about it casually for as long as I please."

"What, alarms go off if one of these goes missing?"

He picked up his cup of tea to take a sip. "No, but suspicion does arise. They're dangerous tools. We never should have made it."

I scoffed. "So of course Reikai has it. What. Does. It. Do?"

"It seals ki. Reikai uses it to repress ki for Ningenkai facilities so to not arouse suspicion."

I stared at him for a moment, unsure of how to take his news. Was that… bad?

"I mean, so your ki is bound and you can't do anything with it. Boo hoo. Sucks only if you're in a fight, really."

He sighed, a mask of disappointment and dejection forming on his features. "You don't seem to understand…"

My hand found its way to my forehead. "Then fucking explain it!"

"It seals ki. And not just what you can use, Aiko."

I slowly set it away from me, still not one hundred percent grasping why that was oh, so horrible. I didn't want to tell him that, though. He seemed irritated at having to explain this to me in so much depth. Even though I kind of needed him to. I stared at him, hoping he'd continue.

After taking my hint, he did. "Ningenkai facilities under Reikai control use it to repress ki. This keeps above average—and even average—people from sensing what's nearby."

"Why…? I don't…"

"Barrier Regulations and Enforcement facilities that act as immigration offices." He rubbed his temples like I was a burden to explain this to. "Having too many youkai in one place will make even a normal person aware of them. Masking ki makes things easier."

"And it masks all the ki, everything." I nodded slowly, finally understanding thanks to the explanation I had to drag out of his mouth. "I didn't see one in the dealership, though."

"If that void was only inside the dealership then they must be around the perimeter of the entire building."

"I'll check next time I go down there. You think the dealership is an immigration office?"

He crossed his arms and huffed a large sigh. "That dealership isn't listed as one."

"Well, there we go." I smiled. "They're definitely up to something there. I'll find out tomorrow or Sunday if you can convince Genkai to let me off this weekend."

"I'll talk to her about it," he said. "Where are you with them?"

A disgusting chill ran down my spine, making me shiver.

"I'm disgustingly close to being her lapdog," I spat at the thought. "The things I have to say to make her trust me again is sick. I feel like some fucking skinhead; it's gross."

"You've mentioned that already."

"Yeah, well that's all it is. Every time I bring up Makai or youkai in general, she just talks about how she's waiting for them to die out," I ranted. "How she wishes she could just send them all back to Makai and have it Nagasaki'd—and yes, she said Nagasaki'd—because them leaving just isn't good enough. She's a fucking skinhead."

He looked at me without much expression.

"I never thought I'd ever have to use that word to describe someone but that's it. She's a fucking skinhead. A Nazi. A fucking Klan member." I drew a deep breath. "I knew she hated youkai but she says some fucked up things. I told you already."

"But they haven't let you in on anything else?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I keep trying to pry, ask about her work. But whenever I do, it veers off into some tangent about how none of those critters should even be stepping foot in this realm to begin with."

He sighed. "Find out what she's doing with the talismans at that dealership."

"I'll ask what they are if I can 'stumble upon them'." I quoted the words with an eye-roll.

"I can't have you diddling and beating around the bush, Aiko."

"Yeah, well after all the shit I've done and said to them, I'm trying to make sure I can get back into her graces without raising a red flag." Raising my voice at him didn't seem to get the words through his thick head. He was already mad that I was taking so long to get close to them, but I couldn't rush something like this—not if he wanted it covert.

Not if he actually wanted information.

"You get down there this weekend and bring me back some real information," he ordered. "All we know is that something is definitely wrong there. We don't know what or why. Get something to go off."

I nodded and drew a deep breath. "Maybe I'll get to stop acting like a fucking Klan member after this…"

I knew I wouldn't, but damn would it be nice not to.

A/N:

* Hentaigana is obsolete or nonstandard hiragana. Was used widely until roughly 1900 where they made sure to have about one hiragana character for each consonant-vowel sequence. Yeah, I'm laughing at the name too. Homonyms.