Day 08: "Nomenclature"

Even though people kept talking, somehow the air inside the hotel room on Hanging Neck Island felt… hushed.

Or maybe that was just me. I sat apart from the rest of my friends in a chair near the kitchen, listening with heart in my mouth as they discussed everything they'd heard from the recently departed Clotho-called-Cleo, emissary of Fate, and Koenma, prince of Spirit World. It felt like watching students whisper in the stacks of a quiet library, to be honest. They huddled around the coffee table and spoke in low voices, as if fearing the arrival of a terse librarian who would scatter their study group the night before some important test. Even Hiei joined them, standing at the edge of the group with hands tucked inside his cloak, crimson eyes affixed on the windows overlooking the pool outside the hotel. Occasionally members of this group glanced my way, but none of them approached or beckoned me to join the conversation.

Not that I blamed them for that, of course. They had the right to process the revelation of my secrets without me micromanaging their emotions and reactions. That knowledge didn't make it easy for make to hang back and just watch them, but somehow I managed to sit still and quiet in the corner and let them take the lead.

… too bad I have so much trouble keeping my nose out of things, though.

Hiei curled his lip at something Kuwabara said. "Nonsense," he snapped, voice carrying in the muffled air. "Now that we've learned of Meigo's—"

"What do we even call it?" Botan cut in. "The fact that she used to be someone else, I mean."

"I've simply been calling it her secret," said Kurama.

Yusuke just scoffed, though. "But that sounds like a you-ker-ism—"

"A euphemism," Kurama murmured.

"Yeah, that!"

"And he's not wrong." Kuwabara, who had been glowering at the floor for the past ten minutes, laughed wryly under his breath. "It does sound like it could be dirty."

Hiei's lip curled higher, an intimidating display of sharp teeth. "Get your mind out of the gutter, fool."

Kuwabara loosed a growl. "My mind isn't in the—!"

"I suppose 'rebirth' applies to the matter of her origin," Kurama said, cutting them off before a fight could break out. "Perhaps that is the term we should use."

"Does it really work, though?" Yusuke said. "It doesn't really say anything about her knowing about us through a damn manga."

"Trans-temporal transmigration," I said. "Of the soul, of course."

They froze when I spoke, the heads of Botan, Kuwabara, Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama, and even the silent Shizuru turning to me in slow increments—like I was some horror movie villain they hadn't been expecting to find looming in the doorway. I tried not to be offended. I just shifted in my seat and looked at the floor, conscious of the dozen eyes trained so intently on me.

"I've had a long time to think about the nomenclature of my experience," I said, words clipped with nerves, "and a 'trans-temporal transmigration of the soul' encompasses the weird time, reality and rebirth issues quite neatly, if we allow 'transmigration' to serve as a dual-purpose word that describes the changing of realities as well as the reincarnation of my soul."

No one said a word.

"It makes sense!" I defensively protested. "It does!"

A few glances were exchanged.

Botan broke the silence with a sharp inhale. "Sure, Keiko," she said (words sounding suspiciously close to empty placation). "It's just…"

"It's just that that's a goddamn mouthful," Shizuru said from around a cigarette.

Yusuke cackled. "Yeah, nerd, what she said!"

Botan put a finger to her chin, eyes drifting upward. "Although I suppose it does make sense if you think about it for a minute…"

"Thank you, Kei," Kurama said (but not until he shot a warning look at everyone else, one he replaced with a pleasant, encouraging smile when he at last turned to me). "That phrasing will work wonderfully."

"No it won't," said Hiei, mouth twisting with revulsion. "It's hideous!"

"For once, Shorty and I agree," said Kuwabara. "I am not saying that."

Bickering erupted at long last, tension snapping like a rubber band. This time, Kurama was powerless to stop. He dragged a chair over to me as the others argued, siting at my side with a sigh and a look of quiet desperation.

"Apologies, Kei," he said as Kuwabara threw a punch at Hiei. "I tried."

I patted his knee, but I didn't say anything.

There was nothing, after all, to say.

This crew shares six brain cells and Kurama has five of them.

Big thanks to all those who left a review on chapter 07! You make me smile. This is for you: C S Stars, xenocanaan, tammywammy9, cezarina, Khaleesi Renee, cestlavie, Kaiya Azure and a guest!