Koenma.
Once every hundred years or so, deities travel far and wide across Reikai to join at our castle and hold a meeting to review how relations with Ningenkai and Makai, and their inhabitants are. Much of it has to do with how religion is viewed by societies as time passes, if deities are still believed in and needed for them, and if so, what humans and youkai need from deities. Such meetings are what create the politics we had today, such as influencing the creation of the Barrier Regulations and Enforcement sector in Ningenkai.
That was why I attended. Among other things, I provided an input of the death rates in the other two realms, and the causes of deaths. After the last couple of meetings, these statistics went to advocate towards the legitimacy of the Barrier Regulations and Enforcement sector.
Outside of this meeting, we had no real contact with each other in terms of politics. We would drop off reports, attempt to keep each party involved updated, but in the end, we all knew very little of what every party was doing. This meeting was an attempt to build the bridge, put whatever pieces of a puzzle together that we could, and hope we could make due afterwards with the missing pieces that remained.
In a brightly lit room, spanning dozens of stories tall, with each circular floor seating at least two dozen deities in individual booths, civil and quiet conversations were held. When one wanted to speak, they leaned into their mic, and their voice reverberated around the circular room.
I had already given my report, and we had moved onto the debate of whether those numbers still constituted the legitimacy of border patrol.
My eyes scanned the room, seeing the other gods that I could from my vantage point. Then, she caught my eye. A curtain of long, shiny black hair lay over extravagant pink robes. Benzaiten…
"Then, has the human public felt safer in regards to youkai relations?" A hefty woman's voice echoed throughout the room, seemingly bouncing off the crisp air.
I found myself curious to see how Reikai felt and thought about the issue. I had to be careful and present only the facts. Though I was here on behalf of my father, who was still handling business as per usual, word could and likely would get back to him.
"If I may ask…" I leaned into my mic, catching Benzaiten's attention. "I would like to know how youkai feel in regards to safety when it comes to human relations."
Murmurs erupted throughout the room, voices muffling into each other. Benzaiten didn't react, she merely looked up to me from her seat across the way.
"Is there a reason we are looking at it from a different point of view now?" asked the same woman's voice from before. "We were under the assumption humans were under the prey of youkai. Why would youkai then feel unsafe?"
"That may be the assumption." I didn't feel like getting into tradition and culture, and educating them. "But in the past few decades, reports of captures of youkai trespassing in Ningenkai have skyrocketed, increasing at almost a hundred and fifty percent since our reports from the nineteen-fifties. The reports seem to be lawful, but with such an increase, I'm inclined to ask if there has been any needs brought up by youkai in relation to this or their safety."
The chatter continued, more hurried now. All eyes were trying to fall upon me, scanning for me in the large room, but my eyes stayed fixed only on Benten—and hers on me.
"Have there been any prayers? An influx of worrying ones?" one voice carried over the rest, and murmurs grew still.
"Do youkai still call upon us?" another asked. "Though they believe, it seems they believe their prayers are a lost cause. At least, in regards to me."
"The same is how I feel as well," another said. "I cannot recall the last time a youkai addressed my help."
"I heard it once." My eyes widened, as Benten never spoke in these meetings unless addressed—and rarely was she. "A child. I thought nothing of it, a misguided request, as it wasn't under my power."
"What did you hear, Benzaiten?" The hefty woman's voice returned.
"I suppose the child was instilled with a rumor, as all its relatives had undergone it's same fate…" she mused, a blank stare on her face. One of callousness or pity, I couldn't tell… at least, I didn't want to. "They too had died, and it asked why it must too, by the hands of humans."
The murmurings came to a halt. A heaviness fell upon the room, with a lingering question remaining between us all: why had Benzaiten, the goddess of everything that flowed, of knowledge and time, prayed to by a murdered youkai?
It was long ago—not by our standards—that she was the protector of the people—of the state. But not of youkai's.
But she had no reason to lie, and everyone knew this, and so a strange quietness fell upon the room…
As if nobody was here anymore.
Maya.
"Hayashi's on to me," Aiko said.
The seven of us sat around the tea table, looking up to the brunette as she crossed her arms over her chest. A stern look graced her face, and I was beginning to worry about her impulsivity. The room was warm with all of us inside, but the doors were shut tight, and the heat was radiating mainly from a certain determined person.
I tensed in my seat at the thought of her making a reckless plan. I didn't doubt her leadership skills, as she'd yet to steer herself or the others wrong yet, but with what I'd overheard an hour ago in the hallway…
"Does the name Girl A mean anything to you?" Fukui's voice came over the compact Aiko held. She visibly shook—convulsed—and my jaw slacked.
She ignored the question, instead asking. "What else did Hayashi say?"
"It's only a matter of time before she says anything to Natsume. We need to do something."
"Any bright ideas?" Shizuru asked, plucking a cup of hot tea from the center of the table to set in front of her.
She seemingly ignored her and looked to the Prince, who sat at the head of the slightly rectangular table, next to me. "You brought it up at that big meeting you had at Reikai, right? How did it go?"
"Caused quite a stir," he replied, and I found myself fixating on his moving pacifier. "It may get shut down quietly, in fact."
"Then keep bringing it up."
"To my father? On the contrary, you don't want him to know about you or my relation to you."
"Then I'll do something. I'll be on my way out soon with how things are going."
"What even happened with Hayashi?" Miyuki asked from next to me, her head cocking to one side.
"I've pushed a bit too much this time, and Hayashi seems to have figured out that I'm not there to play with them. Once she talks to Natsume about me, it's over." Her eyes moved from Miyuki to the Prince. "You'll have to find a replacement."
He nodded. "That may take a while."
"Which is why I want to start the revolution," she said, catching all our eyes in surprise. "If I can start it, someone will come forward to take my place when I'm taken out."
A curious eyebrow cocked in baffled amusement. "And how do you intend to do that?"
"I want to take down the Tohoku district's Interrogation Camp."
Silence. I glanced around the room, showing slacked jaws and wide eyes from the crowd—bore by all but the Prince. His face was still, clean as slate.
"With whose help?"
"Fukui's," she replied swiftly.
"She can't fight. You can't seem to take on even one guard."
She straightened her back, looking down on him with cold eyes. "I was taken by surprise. I won't let that happen the way it did again."
"You can't take an entire jurisdiction by yourself," he said sternly, eyes just as cold as he gazed back. "Yusuke and Kurama can't run to your side to help you with this."
She stared him down, eyes planted on him, but the cogs in her mind reeling for a solution. She knew, but was scared to say it—a leader, but not an enforcer.
"I will," I said, standing from my seat. "I'll help."
Her eyes widened slightly as they landed on me, relief washing over her face. It disappeared quickly, her brows furrowing as she stared me down.
"It's dangerous, Maya."
"I know."
"I can't guarantee you'd come out alive. Are you sure?"
The fact she was willing to let me risk my life meant she was serious about this. And boy, was I willing to jump at the chance. I wanted to help people—youkai included, especially if they were treated how Yukina was, or even worse.
"I didn't throw my life away to do this for nothing." I grinned.
The corners of her lips turned upwards, and she looked back at the Prince with a look of confidence.
"I came here to help you," Shizuru said, standing next. One hand on her hip, she gave Aiko a soft smile. "You know I'm in."
"Fighting is not my forte," Suzume said as she then stood. "And I did not undergo training, but if I can be of service, I'm willing to help with this as well."
Botan stood too, a wide smile on her face accompanying her thumbs up. "I'm not much of a fighter either but I can always help out if you need it!"
"I'm in, too," Miyuki said, causing me to lose composure as she stood next to me. "I came to Genkai's because she took me in. I was running away from what I'd done, but I want to show my remorse. My service is yours, Aiko."
"And I as well." The voice brought everyone's eyes to the last person in the room—Yukina. "I told you before, I want to help."
Shizuru was the first to regain composure, a smirk playing on her lips. "A healer would be a good idea to have if we're heading straight into a coup d'état."
"No." She smiled, and held her hand out to lift her kimono's sleeve to her forearm. The rising temperature in the room began to slowly drop, prickling skin and sending shivers all around. I watched as ice poured from her pores and grew around and over her hand until it reached a sharp point a couple inches away from the tips of her fingers. "I said, I would like to help."
"When did you learn to do that?!" Miyuki gasped, eyes wide and glued to the shank-appendix Yukina now sported.
Miyuki's eyes glanced to Shizuru, who shrugged unashamed.
"Well, Koenma," Aiko said, returning our attention back to her. "I also have Ryuunosuke and Fukui. What do you say?"
"Are you ready to end it all?" he asked. "Not to doubt Genkai's training or the progress you've made, but you're going up against highly trained individuals. They're all at least at a C level ranking—many are B. Soon you will be a solid C rank, but there's many of them. And who's to say they won't call in for reinforcements?"
"I'm tired of this dragging out," she replied. "If it's my time then so be it. Let the next person come in and take over from what I started." She stepped forward, lifted her foot, and planted it on the table, shaking the cups to where they almost tipped over. "No more dragging it out. You want results, right? Well, I'll give you some."
He stared up at her, calm and collected, before closing his eyes and letting out a small sigh. "Run your plan by me before you set it in place." His eyes opened again, a twinge of pride—or maybe, excitement—held in the brown. "If you can help enough escape, Reikai will have a hard time overlooking it. The deities will become more aware as well. It's worth a shot."
Miyuki glanced over me, to the door, but then put her attention back to Aiko. I looked to the shoji door, catching the silhouette behind paper before it disappeared. The youkai, Nagisa.
I looked back to Aiko, and realized her sentiments with this revolution. She wasn't just ready to end this.
She was ready to die.
Kurama.
She told me her idea, and I found myself back in Makai within the next couple of hours. I sneaked out of sight as she asked Touya if he could help Yukina while he was on the campgrounds. I stood in front of the developing structure, eyeing the steel rods that stood lonesome and bare, and the machines churning cement. The whirring of the machines drowned out the bustling of youkai as they ran around the land, construction workers working quickly to get the tournament started as soon as possible.
Rushing without much thought, impulsive.
… No. I was angry. It felt silly to project.
I suppose I never thought it would come to a head like this. I was never happy with her falling into this ploy, but I figured nothing would surface from it. I could help her, be there to ensure her safety—but at the rate this place would be built, and with the luck that followed her around like a lost puppy, I knew the tournament would begin around the same time.
"Tensing your body only breeds more stress, making you feel worse." I looked over my shoulder quickly, finding Hiei walking up behind me with a manila folder. "Or whatever they say."
I straightened my posture. "Not like something you'd say, or even think about."
He walked up next to me, stopping beside me to watch the bustling workers.
"It was a thought that passed through her head," he replied, not meeting my gaze. I moved my eyes from him to the workers, watching them with little interest.
"So you read her mind?" I asked.
"When she was in Mukuro's territory," he said. "It was better she not speak and drag even more attention to herself. She reeked of humanity already. Many things passed through her head when she found out I was inside it."
Was he baiting me to ask? Knowing him, he didn't like involving himself in others business, let alone business that would end up causing more annoyance for him.
"Why are you here?" I asked. "The submission office is located in Yusuke's territory. They won't open the submission office here until next week."
He flinched ever so slightly, looked down at the folder, and then back to the busy scenery. "I figured you would be here, so you could submit this for me when it opened."
A lie, but I would let him have it. I held my hand out, and he gave me the folder.
"It's not like you to let me sneak up on you," he said, his hands returning to the pockets in his cloak.
"I was in my anger, admittedly."
"What did she do this time?" I was surprised he cared.
"Yusuke rubbed off on her a bit too much," I said. "To be fair, before she does something, she does at least think about it… for the most part."
"Is something happening?"
"She's going to attempt taking down a jurisdiction's camp."
He snorted, a small smirk playing on his lips.
"I'm tempted to ask…" I changed the subject, back to what I thought was his bait. "How you two became civil."
He paused, wondering why I cared—unless there was something I was looking for. It wasn't bait. He actually wanted to check up on her through me. Now I was even more curious.
"You want to know about her molestation incident?" Hiei was, of course, always brash about sensitive things, but he was unfortunately smart enough to know his place. "You should be asking her. I'm not getting caught up in petty human drama."
"I was just curious if you knew who it was, maybe saw his face"
"No," he replied. "She doesn't either. The entire picture was blurry, darkened by the wear of repression. She never saw his face. But you're looking at this to distract your anger." He stared up to me with a look that was meant to slap me back into reality. "She came to Makai and traveled the territories with just Jin's help, and she hasn't been killed yet. Think rationally, like you always do, and give her some credit."
I found myself smiling, looking to the dirt ground. "I am, but the possible outcomes are slim."
"She'll strike when the tournament is happening, won't she?" It was a rhetorical question. "And she'd never forgive you if you stepped down from your position to fight."
I chuckled. "I don't know about that last part. She's a bit hypocritical. Though, I am as well. But I do believe that she would want me to fight, at least so she could do this on her own. Also, if I were to win, I could help with the politics she's fighting about." There was a long bout of silence, and I couldn't stop thinking about the only outcome that seemed realistic for her. Then, something inside me couldn't help but turn him against her. "You know, she got Yukina involved. Yukina has offered to fight. Touya is actually teaching her right now."
He turned on me, snarling. "What?"
"Yukina has been aware of everything Aiko has been up to, and has offered her support. With combat."
He turned on his heels immediately, but paused before leaping off to find the nearest portal to Ningenkai. He sent a hateful glare my way. "Your manipulative bullshit won't work on me. You know that even if I stop Yukina from going, Aiko still has her merry band of women."
I smiled. "I know."
"Passive aggression pisses me off," he snapped under his breath before disappearing.
He would cause Aiko some trouble, but nothing would change. Even if Yukina did back down, which she wouldn't, Hiei was right. I only wanted to throw something in her way, as I could do nothing else.
Aiko.
The café was surprisingly quiet, with almost nobody else inside today. The same one I'd met Ryuunosuke at. I would have been lying if I said I wasn't unnerved, paranoid. Shizuru sat next to me, stirring her tea. She wore a thick, long sleeved shirt to hide her injuries from this morning's training.
My wound from Makai healed quickly thanks to Yukina tirelessly working on it. A nasty scar remained, but I had been in pain for maybe less than a week, so I figured it was a fair trade.
Ryuunosuke came in, dressed in their usual business attire, sunglasses on despite the chic, dim lighting. They sauntered their way to our table next to the bay window, where I was picking at a fruit salad and Shizuru was finishing her cup. I wasn't comfortable with Shizuru coming along, but she said she had ideas to contribute. She wanted to help direct the plan. I told her how I didn't entirely trust Ryuunosuke or Fukui yet.
"You infiltrated the camp with their help," she said. "You're just paranoid. I'll be fine."
I warned her about how she wasn't safe if they knew she was there, that I didn't want her or the others to be identified, but she put a quick stop to that as well.
"If they're helping us during the coup, they'll see us all. If you really think they're that dangerous, then they can't work with us on this plan."
And she was right. Ryuunosuke and Fukui had proven they'd betrayed Reikai for me. They already had. I had to give them some credit. Thus, despite the wary feeling stirring around in my gut, Shizuru was sitting in the chair adjacent to mine.
"Good morning, ladies," Ryuunosuke set their purse on the fourth, empty seat of our small table, and sat across from me. "What brings us here today?"
"Ryuunosuke," I started, and gestured towards Shizuru. "This is Shizuru. She's here to help us make a plan."
"A plan? Another break in, I'm guessing?"
"Well, kind of," I mumbled, pushing around the cherry tomato in the salad that I had been avoiding.
"We're shutting down the jurisdiction's camp," Shizuru said quietly, moving the cup back to her lips for another soft sip. "It'll be the beginning of the coup d'etat."
Ryuunosuke's brow popped up from behind their sunglasses, which they eventually moved to completely remove from their face to give us both an incredulous look. "And how are we going about that?"
"That's why we're here," I replied, dragging their gaze to me. "To think of ways."
They scratched behind their ear. "Alright… what's the end goal?"
"To get everyone out of the camp," I replied, watching Shizuru shift her gaze from me in the corner of my eye. "If you could put through a broadcast to Reikai so I could say something, that would be fine too."
"How far do you think you can go?"
I shrugged. "It seems Reikai has some groundwork being laid down. If I can't make a loud enough ruckus down here, then the revolution can at least be started."
They paused. "Who do you have working with you in Reikai to influence them enough to make groundwork?"
"Don't worry about it." I glanced up to them. "Trust me. If we can just take down this jurisdiction, we can start a revolution. That's the goal. If I survive, we'll go from there."
Shizuru's posture hadn't changed, so I looked to her, finding her with a bored look, staring out the window. She was the one who wanted to come along, the one who had so much to say. Ryuunosuke took notice as well, and the two of us glanced to where she was looking, out the window, and jumped out of our seat in surprise. A familiar face was on the other end glowering straight at me. A patch of spiky, black hair sat atop his head, fluffed and flared about out of anger, noticeably due to the hateful glare directed at me.
Heart pounding in my throat, I glanced to the door down the ways, and he turned on his heels and headed for it.
"Who is that?" Ryuunosuke hissed at me.
"You couldn't tell me he was staring? How long was he there for?" I hissed at Shizuru.
"I thought you'd notice eventually." She shrugged.
The door opened and no staff member greeted him. Instead, they looked at the closing door, confused. Whispers of whether someone had left came from the hostess to the waiter.
"Who is that?" Ryuunosuke tried again.
"An acquaintance," I replied, watching him walk over with his hands in his cloak. "I don't think we have to worry too much…"
Ryuunosuke and I sat back down, and they grabbed their purse from the chair. Hiei stopped at the table, and I gestured for him to sit down. He looked at the empty chair next to the window and sniffed. He didn't sit down, his hands still dug into his cloak's pockets in defense. Okay... freak. Ryuunosuke slowly set their purse back in the chair when they noticed the rejection.
He glared at me, still. I couldn't tell if he was trying to figure out what to say, or if he was waiting for me to speak.
"Can I help you?" My brow was furrowed and I was worried I would get wrinkles from this conversation.
"Why did you let Yukina get involved?"
I paused. "Wh… why do you even care?"
Shizuru sent a small, playful smile my way. "They're twins, Aiko."
"Huh?" My jaw dropped as I stared at the angry little man in front of me. Twins? I stopped every mean thought that had almost come to mind, worried he was prying around. "How? Yukina never mentioned—"
"Yukina doesn't know," he snapped, eyes boring into Shizuru.
"You know that she knows," Shizuru sighed.
Hiei set his hateful glare back on me. "She is not a fighter."
"I can't control what Yukina does."
"You should know why Yukina agreed, Hiei," Shizuru said. "I bet you she feels strongly about this. Do you want to go to her and argue your point?"
I sighed. "I'm not going to kick someone off the mission unless they're detrimental to it."
He scowled.
"Or you can try manhandling Touya into not teaching her," Shizuru offered. "But you'll probably be met by a confrontation with Yukina."
His lips curled back into a snarl.
"But I think it would be good for you two to talk." Shizuru was clearly having a grand old time right now.
"If that's all you're here for, you can go now." I waved at him dismissively with a limp wrist. "Otherwise you can try contributing to our plan."
"And you," he snapped, voice raising at me. "Stop running into things. Now I have to deal with Kurama's passive aggressive bullshit. Plan it so it doesn't line up with the Makai tournament so he can help you. That way I don't have to deal with how he is now."
I found my brow rising in surprise. "Haven't heard about that side of him in a while." I rested my elbow on the table and held my head in my hands, sighing wistfully. "Brings back memories."
He bore his teeth, opened his mouth, and then closed it. He knew nothing he said could change my mind. It was up to Yukina, and he was not willing to talk to her for whatever reason.
"So do you have any contributions?" I asked.
His hands found their way from his cloak to cross against his chest. "Under the condition you do what you can to keep Yukina safe."
"I warned her of the dangers," I replied, meeting his gaze. "My goal is for everyone to come out alive with minimal harm done to them, but you have to acknowledge what we're doing here. She can back out at any time, too. I'm not forcing her to participate."
He debated whether it was worth it to confront Touya. It was a long silence, so long that the waiter came and refilled our drinks, took Ryuunosuke's order, and ignored Hiei the entire time. I supposed he was a youkai, so nobody could see him. It made enough sense.
Finally, after the waiter left, he spoke. "Just kill everyone there."
"Thanks, you can leave now." I turned back to my salad.
"The jurisdiction," he continued, his tone changing slightly. It was somehow slightly calmer. I trusted it enough to put my attention back on him. "You know some of these people personally, don't you? They're easy to get to."
"… Yeah."
"Then taunt them with a hostage." He turned slightly, arms moving from across his chest to his side. Bright, cool eyes looked down at me. It was then that I saw the resemblances. The slope of his nose, the curve of his cheekbones, and his eyes—not just the color, but the shape of his eyes too. "You said you wanted to deliver a message. They don't care enough to let your broadcast go through, they'll cut it off the minute you try delivering. But, for instance, the jurisdiction head's daughter would be important to keep alive."
Hiei and I stared at each other for a moment, and then I looked down at the table for another. When my thoughts cleared, and I looked back up to him, he was still there, waiting and watching. I nodded, grateful for his opinion.
He walked from our table, and left the café. The door's chime rung again, and the waiter and hostess stared at the closing door in confusion. I looked to Ryuunosuke and Shizuru, who were silent. We had a plan to get our message across, at least. Everything else would have to revolve around Natsume's kidnapping.
I leaned on the table, returning to picking around my salad.
So, what was everything else?
Koenma.
Papers flashed by me, my stamp smashing against the thin, processed wood as it skimmed by me. I wasn't paying attention to the legislature, I never did. This time, I was preoccupied with what Aiko was conjuring. If she began the revolution in Ningenkai, what would happen up here? I would have to begin a revolution here as well, or her work would be swept under the rug. Judging by the reaction of the other deities, I would likely get some backing. From how many? From who?
I wasn't sure. Would anyone have enough leverage in Reikai, if they dared oppose my father?
I began to start small, branch out with people who may not have enough leverage. But I knew, numbers mattered. If more and more of us joined, even if individually we did not have enough power, together we may.
I called her first.
I waited eagerly for Jorge to burst through my doors, telling me she was here in her stunning pink robes. When he finally did, my heart sunk when I saw who accompanied her. Hotei, with his wide cheeked smile, stood next to Benzaiten. My eyes flickered between the two as she took the seat across from my desk, sitting in the deep red plush with grace. Hotei stood next to her chair, hands relaxed at his side.
"I hope you don't mind me intruding," he said, his smile never leaving. "But I figured this was something I could help with too."
"How so?" I asked, not even bothering to feign interest in my tone.
"Well, I figured it had something to do with the night you were watching that parking lot on your screen."
I felt winded, my breathing stopped.
"Do you believe there is something wrong with how Reikai is handling its mediation between Reikai and Makai?" Benzaiten asked, today wearing a beautiful, deep yellow kimono, with brown, floral embroidery.
I cleared my throat, taking one last bite on my mafuken to ground me. "If I were to present to you evidence of Reikai's corruption, would you be willing to lend me your influence and power?"
"Are you asking us to support you in ultimately overthrowing King Enma?" she cocked her head to the side, glossy, black strands of hair tumbling with her movement.
I paused, wary, but the movement had to begin on both ends. I reminded myself that.
"Yes." The words were heavy, but my chest felt lighter as I spoke.
"I'd like to see what you have." Hotei then sat in the seat next to her. "If I agree, I'll join."
I looked to Benzaiten, who then nodded as well.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small key that opened a drawer on my right. I pulled out the file Aiko had created along the way. It was not thick, but it was dense enough all the same. I opened the folder in front of them, and pulled out the first file to set in front of them. A mugshot of our most recent refugee, Nagisa, sat atop the page. Benzaiten's slender fingers picked up the page to bring it closer to her. After studying it on her own, she handed it to Hotei, and then looked at me expectantly.
I calmed myself with a deep breath before beginning.