A/N: I mentioned, what, 50 chapters ago? that I learned I need to exposit better. So now, here I am, putting that into practice. A chapter to make clear what da heck is going on, then hopefully we can move on to more interesting subplots.

More interesting to me, anyway. I don't like writing about anything that tends to repeat the same words over and over, unless I intend to be writing something educational. Presumably quite interesting to at least some of you!

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Yahiko

"So, what do you want to do next?" All manner of exciting possibilities danced before the eyes. Painting nails? Finding the right shade of foundation? New hairstyles? Yahiko did not know what he was capable of, and for the first time, here was an open and ready canvas waiting for him to find out.

Or there had been. When he didn't get a response, he looked more closely. Hidan's eyes moved around as if he was thinking of something completely different. He was scratching his head. Yahiko remembered he had been doing that before, when they talked about the demon's question. Hidan must be more upset than he'd thought.

"Hidan?"

Hidan paused. "Hm?"

"Are you okay?"

"Mmm…"

That was a sound of thinking, not an answer. Yet it was something of an answer, too. He has to think about whether or not he's okay? He probably isn't then! Why? What happened? Yahiko made a conscious effort to keep his mouth closed and let Hidan finish his thinking. It's bad to jump to conclusions. It's bad. Don't make the same mistake I made with Nagato. Had Nagato told him that there was a problem in some subtle way that he had missed in the fog of his own thoughts? Could he have helped Nagato with whatever trouble he had, if he'd noticed? I shouldn't have thought I knew him already. Jumping to conclusions is bad. Don't do it.

Ironically, repeating this advice to himself almost prevented him from hearing Hidan's answer. "Probably," Hidan concluded, "but I don't feel like it."

Listen to him! "You probably are okay?" Yahiko repeated.

Hidan nodded. "I've been figuring things out with Konan. Seems like a lot of shit has to do with my past, and isn't really true anymore. All the shit that really scares me is like that. So, whatever's going on now that's freaking me out isn't true anymore. It's in the past."

I've been thinking of the past so much recently, even though I don't want to. It feels like I have to. Hidan's words resonated painfully. "That doesn't make it any less real," Yahiko whispered.

Hidan looked at him, but decided not to ask. "I disagree. Would you not like me anymore if I was weird and scary?"

"No, of course not! You're my friend."

"See? It's not real." Hidan gestured at Yahiko like the orange-haired man was an example of something. "I won't really be abandoned. I really am okay. I feel all jittery and shit, but it's not real. I'll be fine."

Wait… That's not quite what I thought he was saying before… It took a moment to discard his ideas about what Hidan had been saying, and another moment to wrap his head around what the albino had just said now. "You mean… Your fears now aren't realistic?"

"Yeah." Hidan blinked. "What'd you think I was saying?"

"That whatever happened in the past doesn't matter now, doesn't affect you, or something."

"How'd you hear that? I literally said all that shit scares me now, and I'm figuring it out."

Yahiko flushed. I'm not figuring out my past, and until a couple days ago I thought it didn't affect me. "Sorry."

Hidan clenched a fist to restrain himself from scratching, and clapped Yahiko on the back instead. "'Sokay."

Yahiko smiled back. "I'm sorry for whatever happened in your past. I can't believe anybody would abandon you. You're really nice."

Unease visibly flickered across Hidan's whole body. His brows drew together; not even he knew why. He did not reply.

Should I push him? Should I distract him, let him get away from whatever's worrying him? What should I do? Yahiko took a deep breath and consulted his instincts. They were silent. He didn't have enough information, so he decided to risk asking for some. "Hidan?"

"Hm?"

"What should I do when you have something upsetting you like this? Push further or back away?"

Hidan smiled. Yahiko had no idea why. What did I do? "Now that ya mention it," Hidan muttered, "I come with my own auto-back-away feature! Reliably backs me away from anything I need to get away from, and all before I come to any actual harm. A choice like that isn't a choice at all! Push me as much as you want; if I get in danger of losing my memory, I'll let ya know."

Wait, he's glad to be losing memories now? "I'm confused."

Hidan blinked at him. "What're ya confused about?"

Yahiko struggled to explain, until a fountain of correct words mercifully came to mind. "Konan hasn't been sharing your personal stuff everywhere, and neither has anyone else. I don't know what you've found out."

"Oh, shit!" Hidan facepalmed and started to laugh. "Yeah, of course not! Ok, so… Me and her and Kakuzu've found out some of why I don't remember stuff. It seems that bad things happened in the past, and there's also stuff that can hurt me now, too, so I lose my memories of that and it protects me and shit."

"So it's not something to worry about? Losing memories is usually something to worry about…"

Hidan shrugged. "Doesn't seem to be. I hope it's not."

He's the expert. He would know. Yahiko cleared his throat. "About your fears now, um, I think you started scratching when we were talking about the incubus' question. Maybe something about prophets or the vampires or the demon is setting you off."

Hidan pressed a hand to his chest. "Not about to have a panic attack. Doesn't feel like my memories are in danger. Demons?" Pause. "Nah, no reaction to that. Vampires?" Pause. "Nothing there. That, uh, other thing… That I'm getting squirrely about." Hidan's forearms prickled with goosebumps.

Yahiko felt goosebumps rise all over his body too. Only one other person had been there to hear the vampire leader talk about the prophet. They were going to have to talk to Nagato. What's the proper etiquette for talking with someone you just changed your whole relationship with but still like and it's like nothing's changed except everything has? I hope this isn't going to be awkward.

Nagato

"How do I talk to him now?" Nagato asked. "Even if I don't have reflexes to stop in certain parts of my life, I still have to interact with him in all the usual ways. How do I do that? It's like nothing's changed, and yet, everything has."

"The way people of this world insist on saying everything to everyone may be working against you," Konan advised. "As I said, your original and I simply never spoke of it. I believe, from what I have seen of your behavior, that courteous silence also exists in this world. It would be wise to employ it here."

"Just pretend nothing's changed?"

"Not quite." Konan took a minute to replay several previous interactions in her mind, parse out how exactly she did what she did. "There was change. We simply did not talk of it out loud. You two have always been at each other's side; you can move together in this way, without needing to speak."

"But we did need to speak," Nagato protested. "The whole problem is that there was too much we didn't talk about that we should have, and now both of us have parts of our lives we never shared and could have, and…" He closed his mouth before his voice could squeak again.

"Speech was necessary about things you did not already share," Konan said slowly. "But you have specifically asked about the parts of your life that you do share, and for them, speech is not necessary."

Nagato winced, despite her patient tone. Duh. That was obvious. I'm overcomplicating everything. "I'm thinking too much," he groaned. "How do I stop thinking?"

"I do not know."

There was a knock at the door. "Hey." Hidan's voice.

"Come in."

Hidan opened the door. He grinned at the sight of Nagato. "Hey, Moonlight! I was just about to ask where I could find ya. There's important vampire shit to talk about." He moved out of the way so Yahiko could come in.

Courteous silence. Courteous silence. But now that he was trying to do what he usually did, move together the way they usually moved together, Nagato found that he was suddenly awkward. I don't know how to act like nothing's wrong! It just came naturally. I never learned how to do it! "Vampires?"

"Yeah," Yahiko answered. He raised a hand to mess with his hair, and forced it down. "Hidan's having problems with something the vampire lady talked about, and, uh, y-you were there, so we need to…" He waved his hands in the air.

"What did the vampire have to say?" Konan asked. Her voice was the textbook definition of courteous. It was as flat and unaffected as usual, not disturbed in the slightest way. They might have been discussing money, or something abstract and far away like the stars. Follow her example!

"Prophets," Yahiko said. His voice was flatter than usual and slightly lower pitched, more formal. Clearly he'd had the same idea. "She said that a lot of the things they know about Jashin sama come from somebody she described as a 'prophet.'"

Nagato raised a finger. "'It's a long story, but suffice it to say, he had a line," he paraphrased. "That's what I remember her saying. She didn't talk very much about him."

Hidan held onto Yahiko's left forearm with both hands to prevent himself from damaging his scalp. "Demon was asking about it."

Nagato reached for his phone. "He did?" He had, of course, checked his phone when a mass of notifications had come in all at once from Deidara's initial announcement. Since then, he had not because he was too occupied finding Konan. Konan's eye twitched, and he remembered that being able to monitor the group chat was the main reason she wanted a phone. Sorry! I really should hurry up, I know.

When he pulled out his device and rechecked the chat, his stomach dropped because there was nothing there to reassure her with. "Dei, uh, hasn't said anything about the demon's response," he reported.

As expected, Konan snatched his phone from him with more speed and force than was strictly necessary. Instead of typing, she pressed a button. Nagato looked over to see her returning to his home screen, searching for the Phone button, pressing it, hitting Contacts, and calling Deidara directly. "Yes, this is necessary," she said in response to his unasked question. Hidan whimpered.

"Is it?" Yahiko asked. His forearm was starting to hurt, and he couldn't help but notice that Hidan only whimpered after she called Deidara.

"This matter is too important to not have reported on." She scowled. "They are being negligent."

Hidan was starting to rock back and forth on his feet, taking Yahiko's arm with him. "Are you really really sure?" Yahiko asked.

Konan looked up. She must not have heard Hidan's whimper, because only now did her expression clear and only now did she pause before responding. "What are the possible consequences?" she asked Hidan.

"Feels like…" He growled. "What the fuck is this shit?! Why do I have to be driven nuts by things that people need to know about?! I hate this!"

Yahiko patted his hands. "What does it feel like?"

"Feels like being close to the edge," Hidan muttered grumpily. "Like either everything will be just fine, or if they say the wrong thing I'll go completely over the edge and lose all my memories. Could go either way."

"Maybe you could go and we'll -"

"No fucking way!" Hidan pushed Yahiko's arm away. "I'm not going to let myself get forced out of group talks because of this shit. I like group talks. You guys are good to talk to."

Konan had not put the phone to her ear to hear it ringing, so Nagato was paying fixed visual attention to the screen in order to see when the call was picked up. He pressed the speakerphone button as soon as that happened. As a result, whoever was on the other end heard Hidan's description of how he felt. They remained silent, even after Hidan stopped speaking and Yahiko began to pat him on the back soothingly.

"...Are you guys okay?" Nagato ventured to ask.

"Just wondering what the wrong thing is now, yeah," Deidara replied cautiously.

Let's hope I don't say the wrong thing… "Do you remember the way we talked when we were with Hidan on that hill?" Nagato asked. "And the meeting after that, when we all agreed to call it sleepwalking and not ask any more questions? That's the safest way to talk that I know of."

Hidan bared his teeth. HIs hands curled into fists. "I take it back, Sunshine. I hate it. I should get to decide when and where I draw the line, even if it means I draw the line a bit too late and get a teensy weensy bit hurt. I am not a delicate fucking flower!"

"Everyone is," Itachi said. "According to our new friend, prophets are a class of being that have great power over humans, and there's really nothing that can be done about them. That means all humans, and vampires, and likely other kinds of beings as well are as delicate flowers right now."

Deidara chimed in to add, "That's because we kind of have one wandering around right now, yeah."

Hidan shivered. Quickly, the way a bowl of beaten eggs takes shape when it meets a hot pan, an idea snapped into place in Nagato's mind. Connections formed where he had not realized there could be any. Hidan has sensory abilities nobody else does. There is something around with great powers. Is he sensing it? Is that why he fears things other people see as harmless? "What kind of power over humans?" he asked.

There was a long pause. "Religious powers?" Deidara eventually dared to say.

Nagato glanced at Yahiko. "We already knew that. Uh...can it...persuade people to do things they wouldn't normally do? Great attack power? Healing? Hypnosis? Things like that?" He looked at Hidan as he listed these options. Hidan managed a slight nod.

"Huh." Deidara cursed lightly. "The demon didn't actually get that specific, yeah."

"Ahem." Itachi took the phone. "He did not know we had a prophet nearby before...discovering that fact through talking with us. He cannot know specific details like that. However, he did mention prophets that have existed in the past. They had a variety of powers, some different from each other, but all the ones I can recall shared an ability to influence people's feelings and beliefs. All of your suggestions are possibilities, and the first a near-certainty."

Nagato's mouth ran dry. A few more connections formed. I may have asked too much about a matter that's a lot closer to home than I thought. "Like…" He coughed, tried to swallow. Wasn't very successful. "Like the symbol?" Konan shot him a warning look.

There was silence, and then the sound of discussion on the other end of the call. "Yes," Itachi said. "It could be very much like that. That hadn't occurred to me."

"That explains why Hidan's reacting so badly to hearing this," Nagato said. Hidan was both tense and fidgety at the same time somehow. "His original was Jashinist, remember? He probably has special Jashinist senses that can pick up anything that's sending the same kind of signal as the symbol sends. He's probably been reacting to the presence of this powerful being the whole time. No wonder he feels terrible around the topic of religion."

Nagato kept his eyes on Hidan as he said that. The idea made sense, and voicing it didn't require mentioning anything forbidden. He saw Hidan relax, and relaxed too. He did not see Konan's face go blank, or notice the way she said nothing. Itachi and Deidara said nothing either.

"Yeah!" Yahiko exclaimed. "That would explain why he doesn't notice the symbol. Special Jashinist senses would pick up on Jashin sama being around, even without a symbol nearby, so there would be no change to him. That makes so much sense!"

"I do constantly feel like some things are just going to attract the wrong attention," Hidan added. "The attention of what, though? Has to be something around to attract the attention of. Yeah, I like this explanation." He relaxed fully.

There was dead silence. "Okay," Deidara chirped. "Sounds good, yeah. Glad to be helpful." Nagato smiled. He'd been starting to wonder about the dead silence, but maybe they had just been thinking. He wondered no more. Finally! We found an explanation for all these things that have been completely unexplained so far! Yes! It was good to finally know what was up with the creepy symbol in the basement. Now they just had to keep an eye out for a very powerful being with great persuasiveness which didn't get along with the symbol.

He took the phone back from Konan and ended the call. "Finally! It's good to have at least some questions answered for once."

Yahiko nodded. Without thinking, he sat down on the bed next to Nagato. "Now we can do something about some of these issues! Is just mentioning religion enough to...attract attention?"

"Yeah." Hidan shook his shoulders loose. They had started to creep up around his ears. "Talking about things is the same as drawing attention to them. That's kind of the whole point of talking."

Oh! That's how courteous silence works! Nagato realized he was leaning toward Yahiko, as he usually did, and had not noticed because he had not been paying the slightest attention. Yes! "So we still shouldn't talk about that," he said.

"Eh…" Hidan rubbed his chin as he leaned against the wall. He jerked away from the wall as soon as his back made contact. He swore; his scythe wasn't with him. Even if it meant the handle wasn't going to press into his back painfully, he still didn't want to lean against the wall, so he groused and remained standing. "Nah. I won't go near those places, but it's fine if y'all talk about stuff that's already established. There've been centuries of humans fucking up churches and shit; whatever 'prophet' influence used to be in it is diluted. I don't mind talking about that shit. The symbol's different. That thing is…" He twitched. "Not talking. Not fucking talking."

Wait a second… The joy Nagato felt from thinking of an explanation that could resolve some of these mysteries disappeared. He hadn't thoroughly vetted his explanation before sharing it; there were parts of it that did not make sense, now that he was thinking more deeply. If Hidan avoids religious topics in order to avoid prophets, then why is the religion that he avoids most of all...his own…

Oh. Fuck. Persuasive, doesn't get along well with the symbol, weird powers… I had it completely backwards! Nagato began to blush. With Konan right here to notice, no less! He regretted his words more and more, until Hidan sighed happily and threw himself on the bed behind them all, just below the pillow. He stretched his arms out above his head and closed his eyes. "Thanks, Moonlight. I kinda thought I was nuts before, because what harm can words do? Now I know I'm not nuts. You're amazing."

Or maybe I don't have it backwards. Not all of it. Nagato remembered the blue-eyed being that had terrified him so badly. That wasn't Hidan. I know it wasn't. It had blue eyes. But when I talked to it, Hidan could hear me. When I talk to him, it can hear me too! He's right about not drawing attention! It's just that his attention is the same as its attention, so he's trapped along with it. If I'm scared of it, that's the same as being scared of him. It is very, very scary. Does he know on some level that it's there? Is he subconsciously scared all the time that we'll accidentally figure out that it exists during our discussions, and we'll fear him for that? Maybe… Oh my god. Maybe it's not that thing's attention he wants to keep away from this topic. Maybe it's ours. If we pay attention, we're the ones who'll hurt him.

Hidan yawned. He was clearly on his way to sleep. Yahiko smiled gently and smoothed Hidan's hair back. Hidan was still in female form. Did he do that when Hidan was in male form? Hidan would appreciate it if he did; the albino smiled softly. Yahiko looked down at him with great fondness. "He's really nice," he said softly. "I wish he didn't have to worry. Something as powerful as the symbol must be scary, but surely he wouldn't be hurt. Who would ever hurt him? He's too good of a person for that."

Nagato shared a look with Konan. He winced and glanced at Hidan to show he understood his own foolishness, then raised an eyebrow and indicated Yahiko with his head to ask, But was I wrong? Konan nodded. "I, too, wish he did not have to worry," she said.

Itachi

"Should we tell him?" Deidara asked. "I mean, ever?"

Itachi raised a hand. "Wait. He clearly did not deduce that Hidan is the prophet we were talking about, but that does not make him wrong. He had some interesting ideas." He placed his elbows on the table, laced his fingers together, and rested his chin on them to think.

Deidara looked around for their food while Itachi thought. He frowned. "Wait a sec, yeah. Hidan totally agreed with everything they suggested, yeah."

"That is what puzzles me," Itachi murmured. "Why would he agree?" What does agreeing to a false version of events get him? Rather, is he even aware that it is false? "Does Hidan have any idea what he is?"

"He's so open and honest," Deidara said. "I can't imagine him lying. If he knew why he can know other people's feelings, he'd say so, right? And there's no fucking way he's manipulative enough to make people worry about him just to keep us from figuring things out, hm. That would make him feel bad too, so he couldn't. Wait, what the fuck? Does he control us, or do we control him?"

"Power over humans," Itachi whispered. "That's what I said prophets have. They have power over…" He trailed off. Deidara's right. It's all circular. Anything he did to others would be done to him. That means all forms of power that he exercises are, ultimately, done to himself as well. So how can he exercise any power, if he will fall victim to it himself?

"Where does Purple Eyes fit into this?" Deidara murmured. "Is that like some special manifestation of it, or something?"

Itachi's arms separated and fell flat on the table. "I have a question to ask our new friend."

Thankfully, they had a phone number to call, so they didn't have to go through the torturous process of trying not to look at the succubus all over again. The incubus came back to their table. "What?" he asked.

"Are prophets the same as or different from humans?" Itachi asked. "Theoretically, is it possible for a prophet and a human to share a body? Are they separate aspects, or the same?"

The incubus looked almost comically confused at the question. His mouth hung open, and no sound came from it. Deidara's eyes widened. "Oh!" he whispered loudly. "You think that other guy, Purple Eyes, is the thing? And Hidan really is just a normal guy unlucky enough to get caught up in it?"

"It is the only thing that makes sense," Itachi replied. The incubus clearly wasn't going to answer the question any time soon. "As you pointed out, Hidan feels what other people feel, thinks what they think. That means any power he used to influence others would ultimately be used on him as well. Hitting himself with his own powers hardly makes sense, unless that isn't actually what's happening. Purple Eyes is unaffected by other people, correct? If they have unusual powers, and Hidan is the one that can be affected by others, and these are two different beings, then there is no feedback loop and the situation makes more sense. They act, and Hidan feels the effects."

"So he is possessed, like we thought!" Deidara said.

"Who are you talking about?"

"Some time ago, Deidara and some others went looking for Hidan and found him in a very odd state. His eyes were purple instead of their usual pink, he was unaffected by others, he acted completely unlike himself as if he was partially possessed, and he knew things Hidan couldn't possibly know," Itachi summarized for the demon.

"And was scary as hell," Deidara added. "I felt weird just being around him, even before he did anything obviously messed up, yeah. It was like the air and ground and everything was creepy, or, or otherworldly."

"We said earlier that Hidan seems to be just an ordinary person. What if that's because he is?" Itachi shrugged. "Is that possible?"

The incubus got out a chair and sat, slowly, gently, as if the wood could shatter beneath him at any moment. Deidara gasped. "He had a dream! Um… Wait, no, he didn't. Yahiko did, I think. A dream that explained a weird power that Hidan used when the succ- er, Jule attacked him. Sorry. He doesn't actually dream of any weird powers, hm. I was wrong."

"No direct connection, even in his dreams," Itachi concluded. "As far as we know. There might be some - they share a body, after all."

The incubus sighed and laid his palms flat on the table. "I don't know." He shook his head. "I don't know. Prophets are extremely rare. I know of only a few. They've all been different from each other. Who knows how much more different a prophet of a deity who is not supposed to be in this world would be? Different deities clearly make different prophets, or maybe the process of making them always results in variations. I don't know what's possible with those things."

"Well, you have been very helpful anyway," Itachi said. "Thank you for your time. And if you ever meet Hidan, please do not treat him as if he is the being you fear. He might very well not be. Don't even mention prophets to him. He was very distressed when we discussed them with him a few minutes ago."

The incubus rubbed the bridge of his nose, a gesture that Itachi recognized from Kisame. The demon sighed. "Time to call it a night. I completely understand why you refused to talk any more earlier. I need to sleep."

He walked away just as the food finally arrived. Deidara just about drooled. "Hey." He waved a hand to get Itachi's attention. "Are you not hungry? I'll take yours, yeah."

Itachi safeguarded his plate. "I will eat. I was merely wondering one thing."

"What?"

"Does our neighborhood demon need to sleep?"

.

A/N: I'll have the vampires give their part of an explanation of what prophets are later, and that should wrap this up. Yay. Hopefully action will ensue, and the next week will take less than 60 chapters to pass.

I'm really in the mood for something completely different now. Something faster, something smoother, something more like the earlier chapters. Yeah, that sounds like just the thing. Nostalgia roadtrip!