WARNING: Kuwabara narrates the first chunk of this chapter, and because he is unaware of Minato's civilian identity, he refers to Sailor V with "she/her" pronouns since Sailor V presents as a presumably cis girl. Minato doesn't correct Kuwabara because he doesn't want to give away any information about his civilian identity. Revealing to Kuwabara (and Hiei) that he's actually a man is just not a conversation Minato wants to have—with them or with anyone else he doesn't trust.

When he met the other Not-Quites in Lucky Child (chapter 58), Minato stated the following: "I go by Minato in this life. My pronouns are he and him, though when transformed, you may use feminine variations. Don't blow my cover. I work hard to maintain it."

Minato thinks of his Sailor V form as a disguise (one he uses both to protect Tokyo, superhero style, and also to safeguard his privacy), so he doesn't feel particularly dysphoric or uncomfortable when people refer to Sailor V with she/her pronouns. Minato knows that he and Sailor V are basically different people who look quite unlike each other, and the mental division he places between these identities helps him not take being misgendered as anything more complicated than an indication his disguise is working.

I wanted to be sure to warn y'all about the content of this chapter since seeing someone get misgendered (even if they themselves aren't bothered by it) is such a hard thing for so many of us. Minato's situation is quite unrealistic/fantastical, obviously, which means he handles it in ways that aren't an option for people in our very real world. Wanted to be sure to give all of this context ahead of time so no one is taken even a little off-guard.

Day 13: "30 Days"

Like a bat out of hell, Kuwabara fucking ran—and with good reason, as far as he could tell.

He had no idea what was going on, of course. He had no idea to whom the firework of energy belonged, just as he had no idea why Hiei had chosen to engage it in what felt like a knock-down, drag-out brawl. Kuwabara certainly didn't get a bad feeling from the firework, bright as it sparked in reaction to Hiei's bursts of darker energy. In fact, the firework was actually rather pretty to his senses, strong and sunny and impossible to miss. It was ironic that this energy felt so much lighter and more positive than Hiei's, which felt… well. Kinda evil, honestly. Anger rolled off of the fire demon in oily black waves Kuwabara could taste even at a distance. If Kuwabara didn't know the guy, he'd swear Hiei was the bad guy instead of the person Hiei had chosen to pick a fight with.

Because the person Hiei was fighting had to be bad, right?

That's why Kuwabara had no freakin' clue what was up, in the end. Bursts and sparks of energy told him that Hiei and the other guy were fighting, and clearly that had to mean the firework was up to no good… because Hiei wouldn't target somebody for no reason. Especially under the circumstances. Or that's at least what Kuwabara kept telling himself.

Only one way to find out, he supposed, and he kept running.

Kuwabara got back to the hospital in record time, but as he skidded to a stop in front of the ambulance bay, he didn't see anyone—and then, right on cue, the firework flared atop an adjacent office building. This time he could see it with his eyes as well as his sixth sense, a flare of brilliant amber light turning the night sky orange… and then deep black as Hiei shot an energy blast back in retaliation.

"OK, so they're fighting up there," Kuwabara muttered. "But how the hell do I get up there, too!?" The answer (so obvious, really) hit him a second later, and with a triumphant grin he raised his hand. "Oh yeah—I have my powers back! Spirit Sword!"

The sword appeared at once, brilliant and gleaming in his hand—brilliant and gleaming and familiar. It looks just like the sword he was used to, not the electric blade that had appeared when Keiko collapsed, but there was no time to think about that! He just pointed the sword at the rooftop, yelled for the sword to "Get long!" and then held on tight, retracting the sword from the bottom up instead of the top down. He'd learned this little trick when he fought Shishiwakamaru, of course. Basically turning his sword into a psychic bungee cord, or maybe in this case it was more like a grappling hook—

No time to congratulate himself; as the line of the sword pulled taut, it yanked him forward and off the ground, sending him flying up to the roof of the building in a disorienting rush of air and height. He hit the roof at a stumble and with a yelp, fully retracting his sword so he could reshape it into its usual form—but before he could even try to leap into action to defend his friend, the scene upon the rooftop stopped Kuwabara dead. Or, more specifically, the sight of the person standing opposite Hiei is what stopped him cold. With jaw slack he watched as Hiei raised a fist wreathed in black flame, preparing to fire it across the roof at—

Kuwabara lunged to the middle of the roof, arms outstretched. "Hiei, stop!" he bellowed. "You stop that right now!"

"What!?" Hiei's hair crackled with stray energy, deep blue and black a dark halo around his glaring red eyes. "Get out of my way, oaf!"

"But Hiei!" cried Kuwabara. "That's Sailor V!"

"Sailor V?" Hiei lowered his arm, but he did not banish his furious fire. "Who in the world is that?"

Kuwabara pointed at the blonde in the sailor uniform standing not too far away, her long hair gleaming in the light of the moon, matching red ribbons in her hair and on her chest fluttering as a breeze blew by. Around one upraised finger swirled a long chain of heart-shaped starbursts of energy, bright blue eyes peering with wary interest through the holes in her red domino mask. Her outfit—a superhero-ified take on a girl's school uniform—boasted armor-like shoulder pads and a fluttering blue collar trimmed in bright red, with a matching skirt below her midriff-baring top. Elbow-length white gloves trimmed in gold and a pair of blue high heels completed the ensemble, and in the hand not wreathed with energy, she clutched a gleaming gold makeup compact shaped like a crescent moon. It matched the gold moons on both her forehead and the white choker wrapped around her slender neck.

She was unmistakable, in Kuwabara's eyes. But Hiei just stared at her like she'd sprouted a second head or something, totally mystified by the sight of the super powered protector of the greater Tokyo metropolitan area, so Kuwabara pointed at her harder (if that's even possible).

"Her, her, she's Sailor V!" he warbled, voice pitching high in desperation. "She's that superhero everyone in Tokyo is talking about! Don't you watch the news? Oh, look who I'm talking to, of course you don't. But you oughtta remember the person who helped Keiko out of a jam when Suzaku and the Saint Beasts sicced a bunch of Makai insects on our town, right? Botan told us all about her." When Hiei continued to look unimpressed, Kuwabara threw up his hands and loosed a cry of supreme frustration. "She gave Botan the earrings that disguise her Jagan eye and stuff!"

Finally it clicked, recognition brightening Hiei's cautious gaze. "Of course I remember that someone gave Botan her earrin—wait." He looked Sailor V over once, then twice, lip curling into a sneer. "That's who saved Keiko? The blonde in the skirt?"

"Says the goth in the bathrobe," Sailor V shot back.

Hiei bared his teeth. "Quiet, you miserable little—"

"Hiei! Don't be rude! People can kick butt no matter what they wear!" Kuwabara turned to V and bowed low, bobbing up and down like a deer-scare on overdrive. "I'm sorry, Sailor V-san, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Obviously you're amazing and he made a huge mistake, targeting you like that!"

"Mistake?" Hiei repeated. "Feh! I did exactly what I intended!"

"Hiei, shut up!" Kuwabara hissed over his shoulder before once more turning to V. "Clearly you're out on important hero business and you shouldn't have been interrupted." Rubbing the back of his neck, he ducked his embarrassed chin and asked, "But while you're here, is there any chance I could get an autograph?"

Sailor V laughed, banishing her burgeoning energy attacking so she could gamely sign the receipt Kuwabara had in his pocket—the only thing he could think of for her to sign, meager though it was. She signed with a pen she pulled from… somewhere… and embellished the signature with a cute little heart. Very on-brand for Sailor V, the self-styled Warrior of Love and Justice he'd so enjoyed reading about in the papers the past few months. Seeing her in person was even cooler, her outfit way more awesome than in the blurry photographs snapped by reporters on the prowl. Heck, her outfit was even cooler than the stuff showing up in the merchandise people were making of her! But amazing as it felt to stand in the presence of an actual, legit superhero (oh my god!), Kuwabara couldn't help but fidget nervously in his shoes as he pocketed the autograph she'd given him.

"So, uh. Not to be nosey, but can I ask what you're doing around here?" he said as she made her pen disappeared somewhere into her uniform. "I gotta assume you were fighting crime and my friend rudely attacked you like a jerk-wad, but…"

"She was lurking!" Hiei protested. "Skulking! Prowling around the hospital where Meigo is being treated! Of course I attacked!"

V rolled her eyes. "And you'd know a lot about being a creep, I presume?"

"What was that!?" Hiei bellowed.

"Nothing, nothing." V tipped a wink at Kuwabara "And your friend there… um?"

"Oh." Kuwabara bowed a few more times—a nervous habit he had developed in the past two minutes, it seemed. "The shorty over there is Hiei, and I'm Kuwabara, Sailor V-san."

"Call me V-chan. Nice to meet you," she said. "Truth be told, Kuwabara, Hiei wasn't totally out of line when he attacked me. Without knowing who I am, of course he thought I was up to no good. Barely had a second to explain before he was throwing fire in my direction."

"Well, I know who you are, so no confusion there!" Kuwabara chortled, unable to help himself. "And can I tell you I'm a really big fan? Meeting a real-life superhero is just so cool!"

V placed a hand over her heart, touched. "Awww, you're too kind!"

Hiei, banishing his energy attack at last, crossed his arms over his chest and snapped, "Get to the point!"

"Fine." V rolled her eyes. "If you must know, I was here to see Keiko. Little magnet for trouble she's turned out to be, huh?"

Kuwabara nodded, some of his good mood fading. "You can say that again."

V's pleasant smile also faded. "It's barely been a month since that little tournament you attended—yes, I know all about it—and already she's had her next big scare. 30 days was all it took for disaster to strike." V shook her head with a grimace. "She has a talent, that's for sure."

But Kuwabara didn't agree, much though he wished to. "Wait. You know about the tournament?" he asked, not quite sure how he felt about that little tidbit. "And do you know about…" (He shot a glance at Hiei.) "…demons?"

"Of course, to both questions," V replied without an ounce of hesitation. "I tend to keep a close eye on my allies and friends. Keiko and her supernatural cohorts are no exception." Blue eyes hooded, her bright and chipper voice dropped into a huskier, darker register. "Have you heard much about…?"

"No." Kuwabara cleared his throat, banishing emotion to… somewhere else. So long as it wasn't thickening his throat or leaking from his eyes, he'd be happy. "She's just in a bad way. Some kind of disease going around Mushiyori. Seems like it spread here, too. She's been in the ICU since she got sick. Like, really sick. So sick, she might not even…" His chest hitched. "Anyway. They haven't told us much." The possibility of Keiko's condition going south was too terrible to say out loud, and yet, Kuwabara turned around to ask, "Hiei?"

Hiei's chin ducked, Jagan eye gleaming violet. "No," he said. "I've seen nothing more."

"Oh." Kuwabara sighed. "Gotcha."

V's expression darkened even further. "Unfortunately, there isn't much I can do about her situation, either. I'm sorry for that." Smiling wryly at her feet, she said, "While these heels might be a hard pill for criminals to swallow, they don't do much in the truly medicinal sense."

"That's too bad," said Kuwabara, meaning it. "Looks like there's nothing any of us can do, huh?"

Hiei gave a low growl. "So you were here to… what, then?" he asked of V, raking her over with his eyes once more. "To just observe? Because I find that difficult to believe."

"I was checking on a friend in her hour of need, Hiei. Nothing more than that," said V, as if it were obvious (and it was, at least to Kuwabara; that's what they were there to do, after all). "You attacked me before I got a chance to explain."

"You told me you were going to punish me!" Hiei shot back.

"Only after you threw a sword at me!" said V.

Kuwabara held up his hands. "Now, now, you two. Can't we all just get along?" When Hiei harrumphed and turned away (just in time to miss seeing V stick out her tongue), Kuwabara asked, "So, um, V-chan." The nickname made him blush a bit, but just beamed, seemingly happy that he'd used it. "You're not a demon, are you? Because that power you used… not too many humans can do stuff like that."

"No, I'm not a demon," she said at once. "I'm… well. Something else entirely, I imagine. But that's neither here nor there, or it's at least nothing for you to worry about."

"Why do I find that hard to believe, too?" Hiei said, sarcasm dripping.

"Because you're a cynic, Hiei, whereas I am the warrior of love, and also optimism," came Sailor V's prim reply. At Kuwabara she aimed a conspiratorial wink. "Let's just say that our lives aren't destined to intersect again, OK? And that means you can rest easy."

That wink told Kuwabara everything he needed to know, whether Sailor V meant for him to make any inferences or not. But he didn't ask any questions to confirm what he suspected. He just bowed again, hoping she couldn't read what he was thinking about on his face.

"Well, I sure am glad they intersected tonight—even if Hiei did throw a sword at you." Without rising from his bow, he looked over his shoulder and glared. "And you're sorry about that, too, aren't you, Hiei?"

"Harrumph," was all Hiei said.

"Hiei! Be nice!"

"It's all right," said V, and she lay one slim finger along her nose. "I can't exactly fuss considering I'm about to ask you both for a favor."

Hiei's eyes blazed like a roaring inferno. "A favor?" he said, as if the word were a grave insult. "You're going to ask a favor?"

"Of course, sure!" Kuwabara said (but not before glaring at Hiei again). "Anything for Sailor V!"

She beamed. "If you could, don't mention meeting me tonight to Keiko. Let me do that whenever she wakes up." At Kuwabara's stunned expression, her smile turned apologetic. "As you've probably noticed, she liked keeping the different sides in her life rather… separate. Compartmentalized, if you will."

Kuwabara stared at her.

"I won't keep it a secret for long, of course," V promised. "It's just that when she comes out of this—and we all know she will." Here she glared as if daring them to defy her prediction. "I just don't want her distracted from her recovery by little old me, you understand? Let me wait until the right time to tell her that we met." V's eyes widened, nearly filling the holes in her domino mask with pure, watery blue. "Please, Kuwabara-kun?" she asked, tone pleading. "I'd be very grateful!"

"Sure. Sure thing, V-chan." The agreement tumbled out of his mouth at once at the sight of her pretty, pleading face; curse Kuwabara's weakness for girls in distress! To cover the heat in his cheeks, Kuwabara turned away from her to ask, "Hiei?"

For a second, the fire demon looked like he wanted to argue—but then he heaved a sigh. "Fine," he said, shooting a withering look at Sailor V. "But if Meigo asks directly, I make no promises."

"That's fair." Sailor V's high heels clicked together as she stood up straight, fingers just brushing her brow as she gave them a crisp salute. "Well. Thank you both for your help." Winking yet again, she took one step backward, then another, heading for the edge of the roof. "Now I've got as little more fighting evil by moonlight to do before the night is over, so if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking my leave." She turned with a flutter of skirt and sailor collar, finger poised over her bright red lips. "Just remember: Mums the word—and that means you, Hiei."

Hiei started to snarl at her, but before he could say a word, Sailor V took a flying leap off the roof, blonde hair streaming like a battle flag. Kuwabara ran after her to peer over the roof's edge, making it just in time to see her hit the ground and go running off into the night—at a speed far faster than any non-powered human should've been capable (and in a pair of high heels, no less). He stared after her with a puzzled frown on his face, unable to keep from wondering just what the heck she even was. He didn't get the sense she was psychic, necessarily. Psychic energy felt a certain way, and her energy was too bright, too radiant, too… cosmic for a human (though why he'd picked that word for a descriptor, he wasn't precisely sure). She certainly wasn't a demon, either; her energy was all wrong. And this not-demon, not-human person was friends with Keiko… and that might mean…

Kuwabara felt Hiei move closer much the way it feels to walk close to a bonfire, heat suffusing his back long before he heard Hiei's feet hit the material of the roof or before he saw Hiei appear at his side. Definitely getting more sensitive to energies, then. Damn, having his powers back felt good!

But Hiei wasn't there to offer congratulations. "You understand, don't you?" was all he said, red eyes spearing the dark in Sailor V's bright wake.

"Yeah," said Kuwabara. "Not a demon. Not a human. Knows about us. Friend of Keiko." He looked at Hiei sidelong. "That's somebody from another story, isn't it?"

"Or someone from the future of ours," said Hiei.

"No." Kuwabara shook his head. "Sailor V… she isn't a demon or a human. She's something else entirely. And that makes me wonder…"

"What?"

In silence, the pair stared into the night. Hiei's eyes roved across the hospital, the pavement below, the barren streets. Kuwabara's eyes, meanwhile, strayed higher—toward the sky, the fitful stars, and the glow of the crescent moon.

Kuwabara said: "It makes me wonder what else is out there, y'know?"

They stood there in silence for a long time, Kuwabara more cognizant than ever of the scope of the world he did not yet fully understand. It sure was a great big world out there—and Keiko shouldered knowledge of it all: Powerful beings who weren't quite human, not quite demon, either; the Makers in their mysterious, dreadful realm; gods like Hiruko, manipulating the world from the shadows. If Keiko knew all about that and more, she had a lot to contend with, didn't she? And she'd been contending with it since the day she was born…

In his spot upon that rooftop, Kuwabara suppressed a shiver.

He wondered if, perhaps, he understood Keiko better now.

Or maybe he'd never truly understand the enormity of the secrets that she kept.

Either way, that night with the help of Sailor V, Kuwabara finally had a secret he could keep from Keiko just like she kept secrets from him—and with another shiver, he felt the scales of power tip, if only the slightest bit, into his favor at last.

Kagome's fingers on Minato's neck felt nice, he supposed. She braided his long hair with nimble twists, combing through the mass of strands with gentle, yet firm, purpose as they sat beneath the star-map embossed upon his secret base's ceiling. Minato had transformed back into his true form as soon as he'd retuned to the Game Crown Center, cutting through Kagome's babbled inquiries with a bare-bones status report.

Yes, the Captain was still alive.

Yes, her condition was severe.

No, Minato did not know anything more than that.

She'd listened to Minato speak in silence, not making any commentary besides telling him to sit so she could give him a haircut. It was only when he at last mentioned meeting Kuwabara and Hiei that she loosed an indignant squawk, fingers snarling in his hair as she yelled that Eeyore was gonna freakin' kill Minato so long as she didn't, y'know, die first—and then Kagome froze, sniffled, and broke down into sobs, wiping her nose and eyes with the tip of Minato's braid.

"Now, now," Minato said, turning so he could pat awkwardly at her knee. "It's all right."

"But it's not, though!" Kagome protested through her tears. "She's fighting for her life and we're over here playing with your hair and I just said something so insensitive and—"

She dissolved into tears once more, wringing Minato's braid in her frantic hands. Minato twisted in his seat to take her by the shoulders, trying in vain to catch her streaming eyes.

"Kagome." Frustration mounted when she did not reply. "Kagome. Kagome. Tigger!"

She looked up at the sound of her nickname. "You…" A big sniffle, and she dabbed at her eyes with his hair. "You called me Tigger."

"I did. Now listen to me." He wasn't sure if he needed to channel military severity or friendly sympathy just then, so he settled for a mix of both—a soothing smile paired with hard words, unflinching eye contact with comfort physical touch. "Sitting here and waiting will not be easy. Unfortunately, it's all we can do. Express yourself now. Exorcise your emotions now, before the Captain comes back. You can say whatever you like right now. You can step on any rakes you like right now. But calm yourself before we see her again, because when she returns, we will need to be strong for her."

His words rang in the quiet underground base. Kagome held his brain in her hand, raised as if to swipe away a tear. Above, the stars moved slowly, beating imperceptibly along their track. The stars reflected in the depths of Kagome's dark eyes as she gazed into Minato's, but soon her eyes closed, starlight snuffed out like a candle in the dark. Kagome drew in three deep breaths, mouth narrowing into a thin line of grim determination.

Inch by inch, her hand lowered into her lap. Soon she let go of Minato's braid entirely.

"I get," she breathed, eyes still shut tight. "Yeah. I do." At last they opened; this time they appeared clearer, free of their earlier fright. "Thanks, Rabbit."

"Of course."

Kagome lifted up the end of the braid, tying it off with a twist of her wrist. "You running into Hiei and Kuwabara wasn't all bad, I guess."

Minato's brow furrowed, curious. "Oh?"

"Without them," she said, tone thoughtful, "we never would've heard about Eeyore's condition."

"Silver lining, I suppose."

"Yeah." Kagome reached for the scissors lying upon the nearby computer terminal. "Yeah. I guess you're right."

Kagome seemed calmer as she sawed off his hair then used an electric razor to buzz the strands down to Minato's preferred crew cut. Good. The calmer Kagome felt, the simpler and easier the Captain's return would be.

An uncharacteristic pang of guilt speared his gut as the last of his hair fell away.

He and Kagome had only wanted to help—but in their urgency to aid the Captain, Minato feared that he had made life just a little more complicated for her. Only time would tell just how much.

I think that aside from the phone call to Genkai and the general emotions of these chapters and the characters' reactions to NQK, I'm coming down on the "this isn't canon" side of things, mainly because I don't plan on following up on Kuwabara having met V within the narrative of LC (there just isn't room for that little subplot). But it was a fun mini-series to write, regardless. Eh, I'm still torn, but whatever.

Sorry for the delay in getting this out; 4,000 words is far longer than anything I wanted to write for this collection, so it took a little extra time (and also I wasn't feeling well at one point). Big thanks to those who came out to support chapter 12: xenocanaan, cestlavie, C S Stars, buzzk97, Lalathefox, ladyofchaos, Kaiya Azure, Himemiko, tammywammy9 and guests.