And now it's Kurama's turn to go crazy! The man's mind is centuries old, so you know he's gotta have some pretty fucked up issues.
Kuwabara followed the sound of metal clanking together into the kitchen, spying Kurama listlessly washing the pile of dishes in the sink. Under the influence of the weak florescent lighting, Kurama looked like shit. Or really, he gave the strong impression of shit. Physically, he looked no different than he did any other day, but the very air around him seemed bogged down by his troubled spirit. Like earlier, Kuwabara got the sense that Kurama was drowning in the mental breakdown Yusuke was having. Kuwabara hung back in the hallway shadows and sighed to himself. The situation would be funnier if two of his friends weren't completely mindfucked. Hiei didn't count cause he was constantly mentally off.
While Yusuke choked on the water in the shower, the poster boy for bodily turmoil, Kurama was slumped over the countertop emotionally disabled. Of course Yusuke won the prize for most fucked up for being distraught mentally, emotionally, and physically. Kuwabara could see how demonhood would come as a shock after fourteen years as a human. Yusuke was never one for planning more than a few hours to possibly a day in advance, let alone where he saw his life leading, but he still must have expected to live his life in the only way he'd ever known; humanly.
Kuwabara walked over to Kurama, cringing as he dirtied up the already filthy floor with his still bleeding feet. Sensing his arrival, Kurama held up a hand over his shoulder, asking for a moment as he turned his downtrodden head away. Completely ignoring this silent request and invading the private man's space, Kuwabara stepped up close behind Kurama, gently gripping his hunched in shoulders. Kuwabara dimly noted how his hands overflowed Kurama's shoulders. Heat pooled in the small space between their two bodies and Kuwabara could practically feel the subtle shift of muscles along Kurama's back as he brought his hand back down.
"Urameshi, he's tough. He's gotta real thick hide; nothing gets him down long," Kuwabara squeezed Kurama's shoulders. "You gonna pull through this too?"
Kurama shrugged out from under Kuwabara's hands, pushing pass him. He stared at the bloody footprints back stepping to the bathroom, wrapping his arms around himself in a weak self-assuring hug.
"How will I do it? How will I be able to live on as a demon when the time comes," said Kurama in a soft, choked voice thick with tears, "when I've lived as a human for what seems so long?"
Kuwabara's quiet "Kurama," went unheard to the distressed man in front of him.
"My mother, you. How will I go on without the two of you? How could I possibly carry the pain of your loss with me centuries after your departure from this world?"
Kuwabara was unbelievably touched to tears that he was such a profound part of Kurama's life. He'd honestly thought Kurama viewed him as a lower creature that could occasionally rise to a challenge. The sob wretched from Kurama's turned figure had his arms aching to hold the crying man until all his fears and worries subsided. Right as he moved to envelope him in a hug, Kurama spoke again, his nearly hysterical rambling almost lost in his emotion thickened voice.
"I-I-I've known her for s-such a short time; known you even shorter-er. But you-you have enthralled me so." Suddenly, Kurama rounded on Kuwabara, consumed with a furious hate. Rage flickered through his body as if flames burned away at him. The inhuman voice, distorted further with vehement rage, tore at Kuwabara's heart like it had claws of its own.
"WHY HAVE YOU TRAPPED ME TO THIS HUMAN PLANE?!" Kurama's anguished yell boomed throughout the small apartment, leaving him shaking where he stood, hands clenched with the urge to strike out. In that moment, he truly looked the part of a trapped feral animal; breathing heavily and wild eyes casting about blindly, looking for a way to escape how he felt. Kuwabara remained still, waiting for Kurama to come back to his senses. If calm, calculating Kurama was reacting so violently, Kuwabara hated to see how Yusuke would flip out. Struck by an epiphany, Kuwabara thought that Kurama and Yusuke had traded personalities for the day; Kurama was acting out, while Yusuke became an introvert.
A small noise from the doorway had Kuwabara peering around to see Yusuke, sopping wet and shivering, standing in the frame. Tucked safely in his arms was his mother still passed out and looking ridiculously oversized in her son's wiry hold. Yusuke blinked slowly, a vacant, drugged-out expression on his face. He peeled open his mouth and said in a crackly croak, "Being demon sucks."
Kurama choked back another sob, nodding fervently.
Fed up, Kuwabara popped his neck and rolled his shoulders into a determined set. Both Kurama and Yusuke were lost in their own little demon Hell, where humans unwittingly imprisoned them. Kuwabara figured they needed a verbal bitch slap to snap them out of their depressive states. Their depression was to be expected though. Mortality was a traumatic thing for anyone to truly grasp. Kuwabara, having been forced through this important life stage at a young age due to his ability to see the spiritual essence left behind by the dead, was years ahead of the two demons on this issue. So he decided to enlighten them the same way his mother had way back when.
"Alright, listen here assholes. Death is pretty much inevitable. You're gonna die," he jabbed a finger at Kurama, "You're gonna die," pointed at Yusuke, "And I'm gonna die. Get over it. We'll all see each other in The End. Hell, with how long you guys'll be kicking, I might get the chance to pop in a few lifetimes and get reacquainted with you. So quit with the moping and act like you got a lick of Goddamn sense to ya!" Kuwabara ended on a growl.
"Now you go to your fucking room, get dressed, and put your mom to bed," snarled Kuwabara. He felt relief tug at his heart and his weary mind when Yusuke shot him an affronted look. The dazed look he'd been wearing all night freaked Kuwabara out more than being forced to view a small portion of the Black tape, so Kuwabara was glad for the return to normalcy.
"Fuck. Alright. Don't get your boxers in a wedge," Yusuke grumbled as he stomped away to carry out his assigned tasks. Kuwabara stared after Yusuke, trying to delay facing Kurama. He cast around in his mind, searching for words, any words, to pull Kurama to his senses, but he found none.
