Chapter 71: Information Broker? Try Prophet!
As a former professional thief, Kurama had stepped into a new body and accepted a substantial overall reduction in power, but his professional instincts had made the transition intact.
Running into Yusuke had been a genuine accident. Out of habit, he had taken a quiet inventory of the two people who came in with him.
Kuwabara did not require much analysis. The light in his eyes was clear and uncomplicated in exactly the way that matched his age and situation.
Ross was different. What Kurama clocked first was a quality that was difficult to put a name to: a kind of pride that ran very deep, probably invisible even to its owner, the sort that simply did not register other people as particularly significant on any scale that mattered.
And then: Kurama had a clear-eyed view of his own appearance. The first reaction from almost everyone who met him was written in their eyes before they could do anything about it. Ross's eyes had contained something different. What was in them could only be described as: just as expected.
Watching how Ross's gaze moved, Kurama had been able to trace the sequence: he checked the clothes, then the hair, then finally landed on the face, and arrived at his conclusion from there.
Kurama was certain of several things. Since his reincarnation, he had committed exactly one case, with two accomplices. Beyond them, the only person he had had any real contact with was Yusuke. Ross did not appear anywhere in his memory as a classmate, a neighbor, or anyone connected to his current life.
That said: if someone was running with Yusuke, who had the instincts of something that had never learned to distrust its gut, there was a basic character guarantee built into that association.
Kurama was simply curious. Who was Ross, and why did he already know him?
"Where to even start with that..."
Ross glanced at the two delinquents, still entirely focused on the grill and not paying much attention to this side of the table. He dipped a finger in his apple juice and wrote two words on the tabletop.
Demon Fox.
Kurama's pupils contracted.
Before he had finished processing that, he watched Ross dip his finger again and write one more.
Makai.
Every muscle in Kurama's body tightened involuntarily. This was with him actively suppressing the reaction.
He had suspected Ross knew something about him. He had not expected this. Not just his true identity, but his actual homeland.
"Relax. It's not that you slipped up somewhere. It's just that the number of things in this world that actually surprise me is fairly small."
Ross picked up his chopsticks, took his time selecting a piece of chuck that had reached a perfect char on the outside, and moved it to his plate.
He preferred dry dipping spice over sauces, and he preferred both sides coated.
Chew, chew, chew. Swallow.
"Don't worry about it. Knowing what I know doesn't mean I want anything from you. Think of me as a particular kind of information broker. If you have something you want to look into, come find me. I'll give you a good rate, call it making friends."
In this moment, Kurama noticed that the quality he had identified earlier in Ross's manner had surfaced again. That particular depth of confidence. Not performed, not hollow. Backed by something real. Not raw power exactly, but something harder to name.
The more cautious part of Kurama's nature decided not to push further. Instead, he shifted his angle slightly.
"Would you mind if I brought you some business? I have a friend who has been searching for something for a long time without finding it. His personality runs to extremes. If I actually introduced you and you could not produce anything concrete, he would very likely move against you."
"Oh. The Jagan Eye, right?"
The moment those words came out of Ross's mouth, Kurama's hand holding the tongs paused involuntarily.
"Sure, tell him to come find me if it comes to that. I basically know what he's looking for. There might be some variation in the details, but the general direction should be right."
As Ross said this, a separate thought surfaced.
The criminal organizations from the YYH side of things should by rights have been absorbed into the Hunter world's structure when the worlds merged. The question was how exactly that had happened. Had they maintained independent family structures, or had they been folded into the Ten Dons' hierarchy? Or perhaps they had become the Ten Dons themselves?
He probably needed to use his Hunter license's access privileges to pull some records and rebuild his understanding of how this merged world was actually organized.
"In that case, I'll pass along his thanks in advance."
There was no proof, no evidence behind any of it. But the way Ross had answered gave Kurama an inexplicable sense of authenticity. There was no trace of performance to it, no bluffing layer. The impression was less that he could not be bothered to lie and more that the concept simply did not apply to whatever Ross was working from.
"Come on, we're basically friends now. Stop being polite. Eat, eat."
Ross took the tongs out of Kurama's hand and started covering the empty grill with fresh cuts.
After dinner, on Kurama's recommendation, all four of them headed together to a small inn he had already checked into: slightly off the main routes, but pleasant and quiet.
For the three of them, a room that could be slept in was the entire requirement. The one specific request from Ross was a television in the room.
Was he a television enthusiast of some kind?
The question occurred to Kurama, but he went to the front desk anyway and asked. The landlady, whose eyes had taken on a quality that was not entirely unlike the heart shape they appeared to be becoming, confirmed that every room came with a television as standard.
"Anyone want to play a round?"
Ross made the gesture of someone adjusting a controller and extended the invitation to his companions, who were heading off to their respective rooms. The Power Glove was already conjured. Combined with the 1P controller, it effectively enabled two-player operation.
The response from both delinquents was the same: no.
"I'm going to shower and sleep properly. Sleeping on the airship never really settles you."
Yusuke yawned, turned, and wandered off.
"I need to call my sister and give her an update. You go ahead, Ross."
Kuwabara gave Ross a brief apologetic look and disappeared into his own room.
The disappointment on Ross's face was visible, but he did not push. Gaming was supposed to be fun, and the whole point fell apart if you started from the wrong place.
"Play? Is this some kind of indoor game? Cards, maybe? Board games?"
Kurama, who had been about to return to his own room, had been watching the exchange, and the curiosity came back out.
"It's a console video game I have with me. Do you want to play?"
Ross directed this toward Kurama with no particular expectation in his voice.
Kurama's reaction was not what he had expected.
"Oh? I can join?"
"Get in here."
Ross's eyes lit up.
Kurama followed him into the room, and then watched as something materialized out of thin air in Ross's arms: an object that looked for all the world like a keyboard.
A spatial storage ability? Or... Conjuration?
At this moment, the expression on Kurama's face became noticeably more focused.