Okay, so I know it's late for a 4th of July story, but I started it on the right day!
Standard disclaimers apply.
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"Tell me again why we're celebrating an American holiday?" Kurama asked.
Touya counted the reasons on his fingers. "Jin wanted an excuse to use the grill, Chu wanted an excuse to drink, Shishiwakamaru wanted an excuse to dress up, and Suzuka wanted an excuse to make fireworks."
"Ah. It all makes perfect sense now." Touya couldn't tell if Kurama was being sarcastic or sincere. "Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, though."
Kuwabara was insisting to Chu and Shizuru that he was too young to drink; Chu and Shizuru were insisting to Kuwabara that his age didn't matter. Yusuke and Jin were competing to see who could grill a better burger. Hiei was helping Suzuka with the fireworks. Yukina was playing Scrabble with Rinku. Genkai was overseeing it all, making sure no one died. In hindsight, she would always blame herself for what happened to the house.
,,
"Do you know what you're doing?" Hiei's question was rough.
"Not really. But how hard could it be?" Suzuka walked away to search 'how to make fireworks' on the computer. The first link was Wikipedia, which he clicked on.
Hiei glanced at Suzuka conspiratorially. He then added more gunpowder to the already volatile concoction.
,,
Jin was distracting Yusuke from the grill, and vice versa. So neither of them noticed, at first, when the burgers caught fire. "Hey Jin, do smell that? It smells like something's … burning…" They turned in unison. "Aahh! The grill's on fire!" Yusuke yelped. He and Jin jerked back. One of them, it was never determined who, bumped into the grill, knocking it over.
It landed on Hiei—and the pyrotechnics-in-the-making. The fireworks-to-be exploded in a shower of sparks and color.
"Ooh!" Rinku said, awed by the display.
A large spark landed on the roof, which went up in a roar of flame. Shizuru pulled Kazuma back protectively. Chu just stared. Rinku screamed. Yusuke and Jin yelled at each other accusatorily.
Luckily for them, a cooler head prevailed. Literally.
Touya created a sheet of ice just above the roof. It quickly melted, dousing the flame.
,,
"Well… It coulda been worse!" Jin said, forcing cheerfulness.
The roof was almost entirely gone. All that was left were a few charred, soaked rafters.
"You're right. I could have let the house burn down." Touya's tone was scathing. Jin looked appropriately abashed.
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Happy 4th, everyone! Please review! ChiCho out!