"I got blighted because I was feeling bad for naming that poor guy Asshole," he retorts. But it's a gentle retort. Gentle-ish, anyway. "I've been watching the phone chatrooms, and I've asked enough questions myself."

Does he have to prove to Hakkai that he's learned information about his past self and been unharmed for it? Fine, that's easy enough. Pride is for suckers. "I know I got so drunk that I disappeared once for two whole days and nobody thought anything of it." There. See?

This isn't going to work. He's not pacing any longer, standing at the pitted and bullet-shot bar, nails digging into the fake wood. Nothing's going according to plan, but Hakkai hasn't hung up yet. Maybe there's a chance?

"If you want to see if that blighted me, you'll have to come to Kinyobi."