I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.
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The electronic tinkling of a mobile phone rang, momentarily interrupting the sound of a keyboard typing continuously.
"Minamino desu". Shuichi Minamino, now in his mid-30's as a human sat back in his ergonomic office chair as he answered his mobile. He briefly looked at the time on his A. Lange Söhne 1815 Chronograph watch - a gift from his mother when he graduated at the top of his class at Tokyo University.
5:30pm, he stared outside the huge ceiling to floor windows in his office. The autumn sun was setting, bathing the Tokyo business district of Roppongi in an ethereal light.
"Oi. Kurama. Finally!" a familiar boisterous voice reverberated through the expensive device Shuichi had to his ear.
"Kazuma! How are you?" he asked, a grin slowly starting to spread across his features.
"Good, good. Listen, my sister needs to talk to you. Since I have your number, well… here she is. Oi Shizuru-neesan!" Kuwabara said in a tone that's a little too cheerful.
The mobile phone changed hands.
"Kurama-kun? Hi. Listen, I'm just wondering if you're free next Saturday?" Shizuru asked.
"Give me a few seconds, Shizuru. Why? What's up next weekend?" the redhead asked as he opened his multiple calendars on the huge screen of his Mac.
"Sakyou and I are getting married! Can you believe it?!" Shizuru gushed.
Kurama was baffled. Didn't Sakyou perish in the collapse of the Dark Tournament's venue?
His manners getting the better of him, Kurama plastered on a smile.
"Best wishes, Shizuru!" he said genially.
"You're attending, right? It's just a small gathering of friends and family." Shizuru said.
"I'm blocking my calendar now." Kurama said, sending an email to his assistant to have the weekend lunch meetings squeezed in during the weekdays.
"Perfect! You're the last person in our group that was so hard to reach. I'll have the wedding invite sent over to you. Would you rather have it delivered at your home or office, Mr. Big Shot CEO?" Shizuru prattled on.
"Aw, Shizuru. I'll email you my office address. Email address, please?"
Shizuru gave him her email address and passed the phone back to her brother.
Kurama waited a few seconds and heard the soft click of a door closing on Kuwabara's end of the line.
"Are you still there?" Kuwabara asked quietly.
"Yes. Kuwabara, what's going on?" Kurama asked.
"Are you still at your office? On a Friday?" Kuwabara asked.
"The usual spot?" Kurama started.
"I'll call Yusuke. See you there in thirty minutes." Kuwabara said before hanging up.
"I guess that leaves me with the task of calling Hiei." Kurama sighed as he dialled the fire demon's number.
30 minutes later…
Kuwabara and Yusuke Urameshi rolled up to the izakaya they frequented as soon as they were of legal age to drink, well, Hiei was still being asked for ID until he, along with the others became frequent barflies.
The bartender gave the pair a mock salute as they walked up to the bar.
"The usual, boys?" he asked with a grin.
"Yes, Aiba-san. And keep them coming. I need to get drunk tonight." Kazuma said as he handed over a thick wad of bills to the bartender. "I'll say this while I'm sober. Cut me off if the funds run out, mkay?"
"Will do, Kuwabara-san. The other two are already inside. Kurama-san had booked a private room for your group." Aiba the bartender said as he gestured towards the corridor of private rooms.
The two nodded their thanks and ambled towards the private room.
Inside, Kurama - clad in a very stylish Tom Ford suit was already drinking with Hiei.
"Aaah. So nice to see you guys. Has it been years?" Kurama said.
"I know right. We last saw each other during… during…" Kuwabara's voice trailed off.
"Keiko's birthday, you ningens. Eight years ago." Hiei said.
"Oh yeah! What a night." Kuwabara chortled.
What had initially started out as a night of harmless fun. They had all gone out for dinner, gave presents to Keiko and for some reason ended up in a club where they all got drunk and had terrible hangovers the next morning.
Kurama put on his best poker face. A lot happened in between the hours from the time they went their separate ways home up to the hangover-laden morning.
"So… Kuwabara. What was that with your sister and Sakyou? I thought he died a long time ago?" Kurama asked Kuwabara.
"Apparently, he was behaving well in the afterlife. So well, that the brat prince cut him a deal." Kuwabara said.
Hiei sighed and grumbled something about how Sakyou should have just remained in the after life. He then proceeded to drink his beer straight up.
"Koenma allowed him to come back to Ningenkai, on one condition. No more dabbling with anything Makai-related. Or any other dimension whatsoever. Otherwise, the one Sakyou loves the most will take his punishment for him." Kuwabara paused as he guzzled his beer.
Kurama raised his eyebrows at the news. "Well if that's what makes your sister happy, then maybe you should also be happy for her too." he said before taking a swig at the whiskey on the rocks.
"I've seen the invitation. So… the wedding will be at the Ritz-Carlton here in Tokyo?" Yusuke looked at Kuwabara to confirm.
"Yes. Well, there will be a traditional wedding at this temple near the hotel. Then the reception will be at the hotel itself. Sakyou is handling all the expenses, so for convenience, all guests who confirmed attendance will be assigned a hotel room for three days - a day before the wedding, for the wedding itself and a day after. And here I am, who was supposed to give her away like it's no big deal." Kuwabara ranted.
Yusuke patted Kuwabara's shoulder. "At least you'd get to see Yukina again."
Kuwabara brightened up immediately.
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot. Botan and Yukina are also coming too!"
Kurama almost choked at the piece of karaage he was snacking on at the mention of Botan's name. He hasn't seen her since the night of Keiko's birthday.
"What's the matter, fox?" Hiei asked.
Kurama shaked his head as he downed a glass of water to clear his throat.
"AAAAH! I REMEMBER NOW!" Yusuke said, slamming his hand on the table.
"Remember? We were all queueing up for cabs on our way home? Hiei was so fucking drunk, Keiko asked me if he could sleep over in our couch that night. Kuwabara had to be carried by the club bouncers into the cab because he also blacked out. Poor Yukina had to go call Shizuru to wait for them at their house's gate hahaha!" Yusuke was getting riled up reminiscing that night.
He then turned to Kurama "And, you. You and Botan were making out! HAHAHA OH MY GOD! From the club's couch up to the taxi line and as soon as you both got inside the cab! Who would have thought Kurama was such a hornball?" Yusuke chortled heartily.
Three sets of eyes flicked towards Kurama expectantly.
"Sorry, gentlemen. But I don't kiss and tell." he said with a gleam on his eyes.
TBC...