NOTE: Please read all dialogue that ends in the word "Yusuke" in the same tone Alexis employs to say "Ew, David!" on Schitt's Creek. Thank you.

This can be considered an almost-sequel to Prompt #18 in one of my other short collections, "Written in Ink." The events of that short are referenced below.

Day 07: "Cashmere"

As soon as we stepped through the front door, the scents of perfumes both richly scented and richly priced filled the perfectly de-humidified air. Light caught on the crystals dripping from the chandelier overhead, painting rainbow fractals across patrons' faces. Dozens of shop girls clad in identical uniforms of pencil skirts, blazers, silk ascots and shiny, patent leather heels watched over their shopping trips, offering help when needed. Someone played a classical melody upon the grand piano tucked beneath the sweeping grand staircase that ascended to the department store's distant second floor. Out of sight amid displays of silk blouses and gleaming jewelry, a woman laughed, her mirth as melodic as the piano's tinkling keys.

It goes without saying that it was a nice place. Possibly too nice. Yusuke looked completely out of his league as he slouched at my heels, and I probably didn't look terribly at home amid the finery, either. But Yusuke had gotten himself (and me, by association) banned from every other department store in the city at that point, so this was the only option left… even if a shop girl had started following us the second we walked in the door.

Not that Yusuke was terribly understanding of the situation. "Did I have to come along?" he kept muttering as I dragged him to the jewelry counter. "Did I really?"

"I helped you pick out Atsuko's present, didn't I?" I said as I scanned the pieces sparkling beneath the counter's glass display. "This is just commensurate reciprocity."

"Commensu-what?"

"Never mind." Catching sight of a price tag poking out from under a ring box, I heaved a heavy sigh. "This is gonna take the better part of my allowance this month, isn't it?"

"You're the one who wanted to get her a gift," Yusuke said, not bothering to act sympathetic.

"She's my mom, Yusuke," I shot back. "And it's her birthday, Yusuke. We don't all just ignore our mother's birthdays unless forced into purchasing a gift by a childhood friend, Yusuke."

"Hey, don't blame me!" he whined. "Atsuko can't even remember her birthday half the time; how do you expect me to remember it without your help, huh?"

"… valid point, actually. Admonishments rescinded, Yusuke." Spotting a section of pale pink gemstones, I grabbed Yusuke's arm and dragged him forward. "Oooh, look at the brooches!"

The pink brooch I'd spotted was part of a collection of sakura-themed jewelry, each piece sporting multiple gems that came together to form the aforementioned flower's petals. My mother loved sakura blossoms. She didn't own any brooches, either, and while the item wasn't cheap, it wasn't prohibitively expensive, either. If I dipped into my savings a little, I could get her the brooch and another small item…

Yusuke leaned an elbow on the counter as I did some quick mental math. "Say, Tex?"

"Hmm?" I grunted, distracted.

"You thought much about what you're gonna say to your mom about the whole I-used-to-be-someone-else thing?"

I jerked up and away from the counter to look at him, stunned. He sported a serious expression, brow knit, lips thinned, eyes curious but firm. After a few seconds he began to fidget, turning away so he could look at me askance.

"What the hell are you staring at?" he muttered. "Something on my face?"

I turned away (stiffly). "Just surprised you asked," I said, studying the jewelry so I wouldn't have to look him in the eye. "Normally I only discuss this kind of thing with Kurama."

"Oh, yeah. He knows what you're going through. Never thought of it that way, but you two are pretty similar." He leaned forward, catching my eye in spite of my best efforts. "Well, what does he think?"

"He thinks that telling his mother about himself would be… complicated," I said, opting for honesty. I'd promised to never lie to him again, after all.

But Yusuke didn't seem to believe me. "Really?" he said, skepticism writ across his face. "He thinks so?"

"You don't agree?"

"I mean… parents gotta be there for their kids, right?" Yusuke shrugged. "I don't know his mom too well, but you've said she's nice, so…" Yusuke rolled his eyes. "I think you're overthinking it, as usual. Atsuko rolled with my whole resurrection thing just fine. Yours will, too!"

I just stared at him. "When you died, Atsuko cried for two months and drank herself to sleep for six."

"Yeah, but she's back to normal now," Yusuke snapped. "And your parents think you hung the moon. How complicated can it be when they lo—"

He stopped talking, looking a little green around the gills in discomfort. Smiling sweetly, I turned toward him and leaned in close.

"How complicated could it be when they… love me?" I asked in a timbre most saccharine. "Are you saying that they love me, their only daughter?"

Yusuke's cheeks colored. "You don't have to say it out loud…"

"Ugh, Yusuke." I swatted his arm. "Emotions aren't some scary devil or something!"

"Hey, fat talk coming from you!" he said, socking me right back. "You sure do act like they're scary! Or at least like your parents' emotions are."

"It's not as simple as me being scared." When he failed to buy my deflection, staring in undisguised cynicism, I rolled my eyes. "I mean, I am scared, don't get me wrong. It's just…"

"It's just what?" he demanded to know.

"I don't want things to change." A helpless shrug; I returned to looking at the jewelry. "I never really had…"

I trailed off. Yusuke didn't say anything for a minute. Then, slowly, his elbow slid off of the jewelry counter, hand hanging loose at his side.

"Keiko," he said. "What were your old parents like?"

I couldn't bring myself to look at him. I just muttered, "You're too smart for your own good sometimes."

Yusuke winced. "That bad, huh?"

Another shrug, this one more resigned. "Let's just say we lived three miles apart but only talked maybe four times a year."

"That is pretty bad."

"Yeah." I cleared my throat, back to business as usual. "So that makes my mom and dad in this life really precious."

"I get that, I guess."

Yusuke hesitated. I took advantage of the moment to call over the shop girl who'd been dogging our steps ever since we walked through the department store's revolving doors. She seemed surprised when I asked for a sakura-jewel brooch, and even more surprised when I immediately paid for the thing (and paid extra for giftwrap) in exact change. Once I made my purchase, I wandered away from the counter toward the accessories section, bypassing purses to browse the store's selection of scarves, hats and gloves.

"But shouldn't you still take that chance?" Yusuke said when we were alone again. "Isn't being honest with them worth the risk?" When I did not meet his eyes and tried to walk away, he hooked a finger into my collar and yanked me back. Eyes blazing, he declared, "Look at what your lies nearly did to you and me, Tex. Don't you think someday your parents will start to figure it out, too? They're not stupid. What'll happen if they realize something's weird with you, but by then it's too late to fix it?"

I hated that he had a point—and judging by the defiant look in his eyes, he knew it, too. For all of Urameshi Yusuke's youth and inability to admit to his own feelings, in that moment, he seemed like the wisest person I'd met. But fear is a persuasive monster, so I just batted his hand aside and ran my fingers over a display of soft wool scarves.

I didn't meet his eyes. I couldn't.

"That's not the only reason I don't want to tell them." It hurt to voice what I said next, but voice it I did, anyway. "What if me telling them about who I used to be drags them into all the supernatural bullshit in our lives? Especially the stuff with Hiruko. I can't put them in danger like that."

Yusuke considered this, thinking with jaw clenched tight. I tried not to let my uneasiness show on my face, but it was tough—especially since saying that made me feel like nothing short of the world's most egregious hypocrite. After all, the last time the "it's too dangerous" line came out of Kurama's mouth, I'd told him off, accusing him of making excuses.

Unlike me with Kurama, though, Yusuke didn't criticize my logic.

Instead, he just threw back his head and laughed.

It was… well, it wasn't what I was expecting; let's just put it like that. He doubled over with laughter, face turning red as I put a hand on my hip and glared at him (as did the shop girl, who'd followed us to stand a few meters away, lurking conspicuously behind a rack of feathered hats).

"And what," I demanded when Yusuke finally stopped chortling, "are you laughing about, mister?"

He straighten up and wiped his streaming eyes, still giggling. "You're practically family of the Dark Tournament champ, and you're worried about protecting your mom and dad?" Yusuke jabbed his thumb into his chest and grinned, head tossing in a show of pride. "What do you have to be scared of? I can kick any ass that threatens your parents. Kind of offended you didn't think about that, honestly. They're basically my parents, too!"

Though he meant that as a tease, I didn't rise to the bait. I just waited for the last of his giggles to subside before catching his eye. When he saw the look in mine, the last of his merriment faded, replaced by an expression of grim understanding.

He was trying to lighten the mood, of course. But Yusuke knew me well enough to know when I wasn't in the mood for jokes.

And that's why he didn't dare break eye contact when I said, "Yusuke. Thank you." Normally the raw, tight-throated admission would send him screaming for the hills, but he gamely held my gaze, anyway, sensing how serious I felt. "Truly, I appreciate that. Thank you."

Averse to emotions as he was, he still looked away first. "So you'll tell them?" he said to the table covered in scarves. He traced a finger down a blue one, slow and deliberate. "Maybe not now, but after Hiruko…?"

"Maybe." I scowled at the scarf under his fingertip. "If they'd even believe me, of course. They're regular people, and all of this supernatural stuff is… oh." A pink scarf caught my eye, wool dyed a gorgeous shade of pale blush. "Now this is pretty."

Yusuke grinned. "Y'know, I don't know shit about scarves, but even I have to admit that one looks nice. And hey, it even matches that little pin thingie you bought!"

"Brooch. It's a brooch, Yusuke."

"Whatever." Studying the sign sitting beside the scarves upon the table, he muttered, "But what the hell is 'cashmere,' anyway?"

"A poor substitute for the truth," I said before I could keep the words inside—yet even though they earned me a funny look from Yusuke, I didn't regret saying them.

They were true, after all.

While I knew how to giftwrap a scarf, I had no idea how I'd package my true nature for my parents whenever the time to gift them that truth came.

This can be considered an almost-sequel to Prompt #18 in one of my other short collections, "Written in Ink." The events of that short are referenced above.

I thought it might be nice to see NQK get confronted about telling her parents the truth by someone who isn't Kurama. Because while Kurama and NQK can commiserate, they're both too close to the matter to give good advice or perspective; they just wind up being an echo-chamber for each other's insecurities about their families, at least in some respects. Talking about it with Yusuke, whose parent is totally clued in, gives Keiko another POV.

Anyway, I've waxed poetic long enough. Thanks for reading, and huge amounts of gratitude to these fine folks for their lovely commentary (which really keeps me motivated to produce these shorts each day, I confess): ladyofchaos, cezarina, cestlavie, Kaiya Azure, Khaleesi Renee, tammywammy9, xenocanaan, and guests.