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Then I've got some really bad news for you.

[she giggles, reaching out to give him a teasingly light bop on the head. there was no way in any universe that she could ever believe someone wearing Kurama's face would ever be able to allow himself to become truly boring. that would kill him faster than any trouble he felt the need to instigate.

that was more than welcome. the heart of her very town had never been anything less than truly bizarre. even now, it was the only way that she knew how to live.]

[If it weren't for Bowie eating up all the affection Kurama was bestowing upon his chin, cheeks, and ears, he might have caught Reimi's hand before she had the chance to bop him. Instead, held prisoner by her cat, he was forced to suffer that playful tap. It was a cruel punishment indeed.

He grinned at her, unaware of the way his eyes shone gold for a moment, and his hair silver.]

Kit was fortunate to have made a friend of you. I only wish he'd listened more.

[Adjusting the way the cat was sprawled in his arms, Kurama booped him gently on the nose.]

You were right, you know. There is someone here with me from my world. He hasn't Awakened yet, and I'm afraid that when he does things will truly be difficult.

[this is what happened when you wandered into someone's home, Kurama. they and their allies would tag team you when you were least expecting it.

Reimi smiles widely back at him, taking quiet note of the shimmering change which crosses over her companion momentarily. it was something she'd seen in other Unawakened, albeit in the daytime - it seemed that she was going to have a fun surprise whenever Kurama grew into his persona. how exciting.

for his part, Bowie protests the change in position with a gravelly mrrrowl, lightly nibbling on the offending fingers that dare boop him in his adorable little nose. truly terrifying.]

I told you, it's a very powerful way to tell fortunes.

[she doesn't comment on his first statement at all. Reimi doesn't think she's any more of a friendly catch than the other people her age - and as much as she'd wished Kit had listened to her as well, that was in the past. there was nothing to do about that now.]

What kind of difficult, though?

Unfortunately, I mean the kind that is the most difficult of all.

[Seeming content to let Bowie nibble on his fingers, Kurama continued.]

The alliance Hiei and I forged in the very beginning was tentative, but over time we became formidable partners and, more importantly, friends. I can think of no one else who knows me so well, whom I also trust so deeply.

[He had beloved friends, people he would die for, but only Hiei really knew him and understood him. Of all the people he had ever met, demon or human, only Hiei embraced every side of him.]

It seems that bond was one that was reborn with us here, but the circumstances in this world were very different. Our goals aligned from the start. We grew close very quickly. Close enough that I find myself needing to take a long look at the feelings I find myself harboring for him. Hiei will not have so easy a time, however.

[Regretfully, Kurama shook his head. He was limited in how much he could or would say about his partner, but there were some things that he could share.]

He and I are both demons, but the time I spent as a human taught me much. Hiei, unfortunately, never found himself blessed with the same privilege. Here he has a human heart, something he has never felt beat within him before, something he cannot even begin to comprehend. It will be difficult...even without the ways in which our other selves complicated matters.

[Sighing, he waggled his fingers around Bowie's paws and booped his nose again before looking back up at Reimi. Impossibly, he was smiling and the expression wasn't at all sad or discouraged. He knew the hard road that lay ahead for him, but the alternative was not walking at all and letting his friend suffer. For whom he was now, there was only one choice.]

It is something we will overcome, however. Even if I am not yet sure how...there has never been anything that, combined, we could not conquer.

[Reimi draws her knees up against her chest, resting her chin in the valley they create to listen with rapt attention to her friend's story. these were the things that she loved best, even when they were fraught with hardship - knowing that the people she cared about had others in their lives who loved them so completely.

it's no surprise, then, to hear that the absence of their former world pressing down upon them had caused something deeper to bloom between them. likely it had always been lurking somewhere neither could reach - but the life of a demon wouldn't allow for such things. she didn't need to have met a true one before now to know that.]

Whatever their race, people like that love really intensely. I think that it scares them and that's why they won't acknowledge it.

[it was a wholly different set of circumstances, but Reimi couldn't help being reminded of Rohan. all those hours they'd spent together, just the two of them in the endless loops of the alley, and when it came for their final goodbyes he'd struggled to even admit he would miss her.

Rohan and Hiei both suffered from the curse of caring too deeply. it was a frightening thing to behold when no one had ever truly taught them about what it was for.]

But I'm pretty sure you're right. You might have to buy stock in ulcer preventatives by the time it's over, but people like that can't be separated. Not even by themselves.

I think you're right, but that's part of why I have faith. That intensity is part of Hiei's strength — the same strength that other people like him possess and have harnessed for the sake of their survival.

[In theory, anyway. Kurama didn't really believe there was anyone else quite like Hiei in all the world. Not this one or the world from which they came. His very angry and very fierce little partner was one of a kind. As well as someone he would need to contend with before long. This situation Kit had forced them into wasn't one he could permit to fester forever. Eventually they would need to speak...

...perhaps sooner than the other teen would like, what with the time of Awakening looming so close around the bend.

For now, however, Kurama was well aware he had put far too much on his host's shoulders. It was awfully kind of her to listen and be so helpful, but unkind of him to burden her after already asking such a steep favor. It was time to turn the spotlight off himself, as much to play the part of gracious guest as to spare himself the discomfort.

Or perhaps learn something.]

Speaking of survival...I hope you will forgive my asking, but I find it rather curious. Do people simply not see the changes the 'Awakened' go through at night?

[Did her own family not see the sudden paleness her skin adopted? Would his own not see past the illusion of Kit Florentine if he ever changed?]

[boy, he really had it bad, didn't he? Reimi can't help but wonder if he's even aware of how hard he seems to have fallen for this boy, although she suspects that the answer is "not quite aware enough". love was silly like that.

but it's also the reason that she doesn't push Kurama to continue sharing, willingly allowing the focus to shift back onto herself for the time being. they had the entire night and possibly a bit of the early morning; there was plenty of time to resume that topic.]

It seems that way! I definitely wouldn't be here now if my parents could see me like this.

[it wasn't the pallor of her skin to which Reimi referred, but the horrible gashes that reopened upon her back like clockwork every night. there was no sweater thick enough that could hide such a thing from the knowing eyes of a parent.]

I guess it's sort of like the app in that way. We can all see it, but nobody else even notices.

I wish I knew whether to be more grateful for such a precautionary measure, or offended by the complete lack of respect.

[Kurama did not wish for Kit Florentine's adoptive parents to see his demon fox form, if that was in fact the way he'd appear when he fully Awakened, but he also wished he had some say in the matter. To render any form of anyone's essentially invisible...

It felt too much like writing off that part of their history.

Strategically speaking, it made sense. They couldn't have everyone worrying, couldn't risk drawing attention, but he could only be bitter at the choice having been taken from him.

...it was no wonder Kit had rushed towards Awakening early, he realized. Kurama himself possessed a great desire to be in control. Perhaps that had bled over into the other boy, his other self, and had been the catalyst for everything. Perhaps he really was to blame and not Kit.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly, and then returned to administering affectionate chin rubs to Reimi's cat.]

I suppose it doesn't matter, does it? What's done is done. But I think if I find the one truly responsible for all of this...

[Kurama left the thought hanging in the air between them. Finishing it might be as unkind as the threat itself. Toying with lives was unforgivable. He would kill the one pulling their strings if he got the chance. Whether it was Luci or someone else.]

[as if sensing his new friend's internal distress, Bowie begins gently batting at the other teen's hands in between chin rubs. don't be upset, other human. you've got an ugly cat who loves you.]

It's not uncommon when it comes to the supernatural. When I died it was the same way for me.

[how frightening that had been, 'waking' after her murder to find that the people clearing away her own body couldn't hear her desperate pleas. Reimi remembers how hard she'd cried, terrified that even Arnold would depart for the afterlife without so much as a backwards glance to his mistress.

it was safer that way, certainly. the world would be more of a hotbed of chaos than it already was if everyone could see the truth behind the curtain. but that didn't make it any easier for those who'd been stripped of a choice in the matter.

silently, she can't help but hope that Kurama finds the opportunity to make good on his unspoken threat someday.]

We can't do anything about it right now, but I can't help but wonder if that could change.

[people could be 'turned on' to the network and were every couple of months. surely a smaller scale version of that could be employed.]

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what the fuck is a reimi tag can i eat it