Chapter 24
Someone was pounding at her front door. Rin snapped awake, her body tight as a pulled bow string. Hiei was already out of bed and throwing on a pair of pants.
"Stay there," said his voice in her mind. The Jagan Eye; she had almost forgotten that with it he could speak telepathically. Not a power he used often.
Rin sat up in bed, clutching the sheets to her chest, as he noiselessly slipped out her bedroom door. Instead of obeying him, she struggled into a shirt and followed on silent feet. It was mid morning, if her internal clock was correct.
Then there was a crash and a lot of shouting. Rin burst into her living room, Spirit Knives at the ready.
The first thing she saw was a shirtless Hiei fairly bristling with rage. Then she saw Yusuke, Keiko, Botan, and Kurama standing in the open front doorway, the door's lock shattered, with their mouths open and eyes wide. There was movement in the hallway behind them. Was that Koenma?
Oh god.
"Oh my," said Botan, sounding inordinately pleased, her magenta eyes round as coins.
Rin's face went the color of a ripe tomato as she made accidental eye contact with the ferry girl, who grinned and looked pointedly down at Rin's lower half.
"Uh…" Rin looked down and realized with a start that she wasn't wearing any pants. She was standing in her living room in only underwear and a ratty old sleep shirt, braless, in front of all of her friends and God and everyone, plus the acting head of the government of Spirit World. With a small screech, her face burning with the heat of nuclear reactor meltdown, Rin dashed back into her bedroom.
Well, if they suspected before, they know now, she thought as she threw on the first clothes she could lay hands on: leggings and a hoodie, to cover the most amount of skin possible. She could hear the murmur of conversation from the living room and people moving around.
In a black flash, Hiei appeared on the other side of the bed, glowering, and grumpily tugged on his shirt. They shared a glance, and Rin wished briefly that they could just hide in her bedroom forever and never come out.
When the two of them returned to the living room, Botan, Kurama, and Keiko were sitting on her couch while Yusuke lounged against the arm. An adult Koenma stood next to him with his arms crossed. The Spirit World prince looked like he was ready to tap his foot with impatience. Rin avoided his gaze; their last meeting had not been a pleasant one. Jorge was there too, wearing a snappy three piece suit. The blue ogre gave her a rueful smile. Someone had propped the front door to her apartment shut; Rin sighed internally and made a mental note to contact her landlord.
Gathering the ragged shreds of her dignity about her, Rin offered everyone drinks, ignoring Botan and Yusuke's twin shit-eating grins. Kurama accepted a mug of tea while glancing slyly through his bangs between her and Hiei, who had taken up his customary post by the patio doors. Rin ignored the fox and his knowing looks and offered Jorge coffee; he looked like he was barely staying awake and had heavy navy blue circles under his eyes. Eventually she ran out of things to do and stood in the middle of her living room with her arms crossed, feeling very exposed even with all her clothes on.
"So ya'll are banging?" Yusuke burst out.
Keiko smacked him, this time a real punch that landed with a heavy thud and left her boyfriend rubbing his arm reproachfully. "Yusuke. Don't be rude," she said sharply.
At the same time, there was a flare of black Spirit Energy from the corner of the room; fortunately it was cut off before it could do much more than make Hiei's displeasure known. At least he was trying to control his temper.
Yusuke grumbled and sat back, cowed, still nursing his injured arm.
Before anyone else could say something unwise, Kurama took the lead. "Apologies for the intrusion," he said apologetically to Rin, tucking a lock of his crimson hair behind one ear. "You weren't answering your phone and Hiei was… unresponsive," the words were a delicate innuendo, "and we were concerned that something terrible had happened." He paused, seemingly looking for words. "If we had known that you were safe and otherwise occupied…"
Rin couldn't make eye contact with any of them. Her face had to literally be on fire, right? Maybe she could just sink into the floor and disappear.
"Anyway," Koenma interrupted, his high voice exasperated, with the manner of a teacher controlling an unruly group of teenagers, "We were hoping to arrange a meeting with you this morning to discuss the, ah, current situation, but when our attempts at contact went unanswered, we decided to check on you. Since we're all here, we might as well talk about our demon problem."
The group focused, even Rin, who set aside her embarrassment. Nothing like a good old-fashioned strategy meeting to direct everyone's attention to less... intrusive places.
"We began investigating the 'Free Demon World' movement and Mayuga Nokawa's claims as soon as we were informed about the incident yesterday," Botan said. In an aside, she smiled at Rin and said, "I'm so glad that you're alright, by the way." Then she continued speaking to the room, "The Free Demon Worlders are on our lists as a low-level terrorist group, but as for the nonviolent anthropovore demons, we have records of petitions from them going back… What is it, Jorge, twelve years?"
"That's right, Miss Botan. The requests started only a month or two after the borders opened," Jorge put in. In an aside, he said, yawning so wide his fangs showed, "I pulled an all-nighter researching. Went through years of records, and of course they're not organized. There are city blocks worth of papers and forms."
"Quiet, orge," Koenma barked. "Drink your coffee and keep your whining to yourself. People think I'm the toddler..."
Cowed, Jorge sipped from his mug with an air of resignation, as if he couldn't have expected any other response from his boss.
To everyone else, the prince said, "It seems that at least this part of her story was true. Mayuga wasn't lying about asking for Spirit World's help."
"And what did Spirit World do with those requests?" Rin asked, already knowing the answer. She wanted to make him say it.
All eyes in the room locked on Koenma, who shifted uncomfortably.
"It's on the list." The prince of Spirit World looked away from Rin's frank, questioning stare, abashed, then wrung his hands. "Spirit World has had other priorities since the borders opened. Requests to emigrate, petitions to start businesses, border violations by unaware humans. So much paperwork, you wouldn't believe."
"We have records of petitions from Mayuga and her group, like clockwork, every few months since the borders opened," Botan put in.
"Yes, thank you Botan," he said, giving the ferry girl a pointed glare. "Their claims are going through the proper channels as we speak. As far as I'm aware, it's in the pre-committee stage now."
"You mean to tell me," said Kurama slowly, his green eyes sharp on Koenma's face, "that a non-violent group, seeking assistance through a legitimate diplomatic path, have been stuck in the pre-committee phase for twelve years? Honestly, Koenma. I thought Spirit World was trying to change its image."
"Managing something like this takes time," Koenma said, getting flustered now. He ran a hand through his hair, sounding put upon. "There are so many interested parties to keep happy. And we've had to manage the extremists in the Free Demon World movement. Not to mention that, in essence, what they really want is permission to eat humans." In an almost whisper, he said wryly, "Try fast-tracking that through Spirit World's bureaucracy."
"That's not what they want at all," Rin said, incensed, her voice rising without her meaning it to. "They just want to live. It's not their fault they need to eat humans to survive. Spirit World has scientists, I know they do. Why aren't they working on imitation human meat? Or a voluntary blood bank? There has to be something you can do. These people need help."
Rin could feel Hiei's heated stare from across the room. They had not had time to discuss her feelings on the subject; it felt too big to dive into the night before, when emotions were running high.
Koenma took a step back at Rin's vehemence. "I understand that you're upset about this, but we have no idea if these people have ulterior motives. You can't be sure this Mayuga isn't lying. You can't even be sure that she didn't put this suggestion in your head in the first place."
Everyone else in the room swiveled their heads between the two of them like they were watching a heated tennis match. Now they were focused on Rin for her response, and she was keenly aware that how she handled this could make the conversation (and the room's opinion) go very badly. She needed everyone's support.
Rin closed her eyes and counted to ten, then said, choosing her words carefully and speaking in a measured tone, "Mayuga and her people are not our enemy. She kidnapped me because she's desperate. It's the extremists who are the real problem, and only because they are starving to death. And hate Spirit World. Probably because they've been asking for help for years and have been ignored. Mayuga's backed into a corner here. She's trying to keep Human World safe and find a way to feed her people while their petitions go through committees." Rin spat the last word, unable to stop herself.
"Who says they even have to eat human meat?" Koenma shot back, flustered. "We've never heard of this before. Did you ever consider that she might have lied? Spun a story to get your sympathy? She probably has her own reasons for wanting our help."
While Rin spluttered incoherently with rage, Yusuke looked to the two demons in the room. "Kurama, Hiei, you lived in Demon World. Do you know anything about these anthropology demons?"
Kurama and Botan snickered, unable to help themselves. Keiko rolled her eyes heavenward, and Koenma mopped a hand across his face and shook his head. Out of the corner of her eye, Rin saw Hiei cross his arms and turn petulantly towards the patio doors. Someone was still angry at Yusuke, it seemed.
"I cannot speak for Hiei," Kurama said, glancing over at his friend, who seemed to be ignoring them all, "but over the years I have heard rumors of demons in the depths that can only eat human flesh. However, if we take King Raizen as historical precedent, then I think it is safe to say that Demon World is vast, and that other demons may share the same, shall we say, limitations as Yusuke's ancestral father."
"Thank you, Kurama. That's exactly what I've been trying to say: we have no idea, and no way to prove it," Koenma cut in triumphantly, waving a hand. "Mayuga and her friends could be lying to us."
"I think Rin is right," a soft, calm voice said. All eyes in the room turned to Keiko, who had a contemplative expression on her pretty face. She continued slowly, as if doing math in her head, "If they have submitted petitions every few months for twelve years, that is almost fifty times they have asked for Spirit World's help. Is it probable that liars would put in that much effort and wait so long? Wouldn't they just attack Human World?" Her steady brown eyes stared at Koenma until he looked away and down. "Even if they are lying, what is the harm in trying to help them?" There were a few nods around the room.
Hiei spoke from his corner. "I have something to say."
Everyone stared at him, unused to the fire demon volunteering to speak.
The fire demon looked away, annoyed at the attention, and said, "In my time in Demon World, I have met demons who claimed they could only eat humans. Some I fought and killed, others ran at just a glimpse of my power, so I have no way of knowing for sure. But I…" He took a deep breath and seemed to think about just letting his words trail off into nothing. Instead, he said, "I too have been abandoned for something I cannot control, and have been at the mercy of Spirit World's whims. If Spirit World is as benevolent as it likes to claim, it should treat demons as people, just as they treat humans, not as liars, animals, or thieves."
Rin's chest flooded with warmth. There hadn't been time to ask Hiei what he thought about the whole situation, and it made her happy that he was backing her up.
Kurama nodded. "I agree, Hiei. I can see no harm in at least hearing them out."
"I think that's it, then," Yusuke said, crossing his arms and looking at Koenma. "We all agree. Yo, Pacifier Mouth, you need to do something about this."
Koenma spluttered. "I don't recall this being a democracy, Yusuke Urameshi, my former Spirit Detective." He planted his feet mulishly.
Bristling, Yusuke stood up fully from the arm of the couch, his voice rising. "Yeah, well, this former Spirit Detective has saved your ass more times than you can count."
Koenma opened his mouth to retort, but Botan cut him off. "Lord Koenma, if we don't help these people, we're going to have a much worse problem on our hands."
"Spirit World does not negotiate with terrorists," the prince said firmly.
"But they do help people in need, don't they?" Kurama asked, his green eyes flashing dangerously.
At the fox's words, everyone stared at Koenma, whose expression went from stony to unsure as the moment stretched on and on. He fidgeted, then fiddled with the edge of his shirt and straightened his cuffs. Finally, he broke under the scrutiny. Under his breath, he said, "Father is not going to be happy about this." Then, louder, his tone resigned and with an undercurrent of annoyance, "Jorge, arrange a meeting with this Mayuga Nokawa."
A few days later, Botan stopped by Rin's apartment.
Hiei had been staying with her each night 'for her protection,' but Rin couldn't say that she minded much. It was nice (better than nice) to have him around. As if to remind her that he wasn't a tame demon, he would disappear at random times and then pop back in unexpectedly, but he could usually be relied on to show up for dinner. Sometimes he would watch TV with her, or lounge around while she read. She wasn't sure what he did while she was at work. Probably lurked in the woods around the library, if she didn't miss her guess. He was still on the alert for potential kidnappers.
Looking harried, Botan had knocked on Rin's patio door, her flying oar held under one arm. When Rin slid aside the glass pane, Botan said in a rush, "The meeting is in two days in Demon World. Mayuga had a special request that you be there. Spirit World will send someone to pick you up."
Before Rin could do much more than acknowledge her statement, Botan was back on her oar and zooming away into the sky.
Author's note: Thank you to havishanta for the favorite, follow, and the very sweet review. You made my day!
