Chapter 10 – Luck
The black eyebrows stretched in a hard line while the brown irises fixed themselves, coldly, on the opponent's body. Then he looked for green eyes, saw no sparkle, just opaque emeralds, almost saw the feeling of reflected pity, bitterness and perhaps disappointment. Yusuke felt a salty drop leave the top of his head and run across his face as he dodged blow after blow. The fight seemed inert, lifeless, they were trapped in the ether, in a world different from the rest, only in that world was it possible to feel the rolling heart vibration. He decided that he would rather die than fail in that fight, he could only take one more hit. Perhaps it would be a big mistake to stand against Kurama, but both are proud, no one would give an arm to cheer. He had to wait for the opening in defense, probably in the stomach, at another point he would laugh. His fingertip was sore from the build-up of tension, just like Yusuke himself, he tried to ignore Kuwabara's screams in the background, probably stuck in his own struggle, the feeling that it was just him and the fox returned. At the beginning of the battle there was discussion, heated provocations, but now there was silence at the decisive moment.
"Give up"
The word came out of Kurama's mouth like a razor, but it didn't pierce Yusuke as much as it should have, he had an asset that would give him the victory, but he was still unsure, he knew the fox could have a trick up his sleeve too. Kurama was experienced, but the ex-detective believed he knew more about fighting than the fox, he had plenty of time to train, of course, his irresponsible adolescence allowed his ability to stand out. He realized that perhaps the fox was also without energy since he left for hand-to-hand combat, but immediately remembered that every time Kurama asks for hand-to-hand combat it is because he will checkmate just a few moves away. But the question was whether this applied to this situation, Urameshi would take advantage of it, his point-blank strike could be more effective, he needed some avoidance and blocking before he had a chance, he removed any feeling of pity, pain or uncertainty , he didn't fall into this fight because he wanted to, he was influenced, the fox planned everything and now he would have to pay the price. Yusuke received the opening he had been waiting for with a sob, deposited all the remaining energy from the blow, he would never admit it, but closed his eyes for a second at the time of impact. An explosion of yellowish light hit Kurama who was dragged away leaving a trail of destruction. For Yusuke, his confirmation of victory came when the opponent did not rise. He screamed with victory, he didn't know what to feel at that moment, he heard the fox whisper something like - you won - the opacity in his green eyes caused him regret for a second, but the rich reward for victory drove away the feeling, even so a tear crossed his face as he composed himself, ignoring muffled laughter at the back of his head.
"Don't cry about it, Yusuke" Kurama found the brown of the other's eyes. "I would have won on another occasion" he lamented, relaxing his muscles, curling his lips in a comforting smile.
"Kurama" Yusuke offered a smile to the loser, raised his right arm towards the sky, closing his fingers in fist "I didn't just defeat you ..." let out a sigh before entering in full euphoria "I finished with you and destroyed your ancestors! " Kurama laughed while lowering the screen of the Nintendo DS seeing Yusuke punch the air in happiness, after all, years skipping class to play this game in the arcades gave the ex-detective all the experience he needed. "I told you I was a wonderful player" Yusuke closed his own portable console "Now, say it! I'm the best"
"Oh yes, you are the best pretty guardian of justice in sailor uniform" Kurama joked to make himself comfortable in his place on the temple entrance.
"The Codename is Yusuke Urameshi, ready for action!" If in Goblin City he was a terrible player, in Sailor V he was the best in his province, but he remembered a visit to Tokyo, where he found an arcade machine with a record almost ten times higher than his in that game. It was taken from his memories when the shadow of a wooden sword landed in front of his face.
"Did you come to train or to waste my time?" Hiei seemed to be the only one to take the supposed training seriously "I'm done with the clown" with a nod, indicated Kuwabara shamefully dismounted on the grass, the black eye and swollen lip were the least of his problems, but he was still implying that could beat the fire demon. The human had willpower and determination, as much as Hiei hates to admit, it was necessary "you are next" faced Yusuke's smug smile
"Take the real sword, shrimp" He handed the console to Kurama "I will punish you in name of the planet Venus"
Genkai was irritated and tired, silently repeating to herself how old she was to take it all. She was no longer old enough to care for children in adult bodies, raised an eyebrow at the intact figure of Kurama drinking tea sitting on the porch, for a moment she thought that the same thing was happening in the other head. Too old for that. She looked with disgust at the three men fighting for no reason, measuring by the energy levels and the noise of the fight, they had been in this punching game for a few hours. Half a dozen words added to some insults made the three boys stop fighting, Genkai treated them like the children they were being. The master saw no sense in what they were doing, nor would she consider it as a workout, at most an aerobics exercise where you lose one tooth or another by chance, and of course, a exercise that destroys your lawn. After giving the message he took the path into the temple, beating his eyes on the stretching fox. Later that night, she thought she was going to get rid of the boys, the smell of burning dinner that Yukina was preparing was to chase them away, but the master was out of luck today.
"Next time, wax my floor, instead of hitting each other without technique or reason" the old woman replied Yusuke's comment about being tired "Next time, they will have a reason to be tired" ignored the grumbling that followed.
"In fact, waxing the floor is more tiring" Kurama joked while receiving a fish dish and ignoring Hiei's grumble about the comment.
Hiei was really unhappy with Kurama's sentence, how could he say anything about tiredness if he didn't lift a finger this afternoon? He made sure to put on his fighting clothes to sit on the porch filling his belly with tea. A lamp went out on his head and made him reflect on what would be the reason for unproductiveness, precisely the fox that weeks ago complained, sitting on the beach sand, about being lazy and rusty. Especially the three who lead, or try to lead, a human life. Hiei knows that Kurama is a puzzle that he can never completely solve, mainly because he can never put all the necessary pieces together. Yukina's muffled laughter took him out of his thoughts, not only she, but Kurama and Yusuke were laughing, the old woman looked sulky as usual. He made a mental calculation, a voice was missing from that set of laughs. He frowned and considered himself pathetic when he realized that the voice of the imbecile in love with his sister was missing.
The taller redhead was silent, but he moved like a madman, forcing mimes and being irritated by not being able to make himself understood. Hiei watched that situation as if the big redhead was a circus monkey, his mind smiled, in fact he believed that for this weak human being a circus monkey, only the colored tent is missing. But the scene didn't amuse him for more than two minutes, he was losing patience. He did not accompany the three on the way back to the city, he preferred to make his own way to the apartment, fast, discreet and mainly without using any human invention of transport. In the dark, sitting on the top of the kotatsu, arms and legs crossed, he was impatient. Impatient because he had been there for over an hour trying to put together a mental puzzle with only two pieces, which he didn't even know was part of the same set. His eyes rolled to the direction of the sound coming from outside the apartment, the suppressed laughter from Kurama and Yusuke. He maintained his impatient posture until everyone was seated in their seats at the kotatsu, Kurama and Yusuke with their eyes watering with laughter while the taller redhead was in silence almost purple with anger. The two funny boys were silent for a second, Hiei could see the exchange of looks and the exaggerated return of loud laughs making Yusuke spit his beer. Hiei tensed all his muscles when Kurama used his bent leg on the table to support his lapse in meaningless laughter.
"Where's the fucking fun?" Hiei tried to be as harsh as the feeling of the hot face resting on his leg allowed. Kurama blew out a breath trying to control his laughter as Yusuke wiped the beer from his arms with his shirt, but the fabric was so bad and synthetic that it only spread the mess more. The orange hair served as a cover for the hard lines of its owner's face.
"He fell into a prank" Yusuke indicated his friend with his thumb "During a very important conversation with the great love of his life" He made a point of extending the vowels and projecting quotes in the air when saying – super - and - great love "He did foolish role and he cannot even defend himself, torturing him is the grace of history "In the last sentence, he dodged a punch on head from the carrotguy. Urameshi ignored Hiei's grimace, but Kurama knew what it meant.
"It's a joke in the human world, it's called JINX" he explained, knowing that Hiei's grimace meant confusion out of ignorance of human culture "When two people speak the same word at the same time, is created a quick competition from those who say JINX first"
"Whoever loses the game cannot say anything until someone pronounces his name" Yusuke adds, still torturing his losing friend "If the rule is broken, an absurd wave of bad luck falls on the loser. The best part was that Yukina herself who arrested this Don Juan in Jinx" Both Kurama and Yusuke started laughing again "During what would be a big love declaration".
Hiei frowned at the trio's level of childishness in that room, Kurama and Yusuke got together to teach their sister about the game and influence her to put it into practice. On the one hand, he hated the girl being part of this asshole nursery, on the other hand he was happy that she took the opportunity to shut up the other.
"You are a bunch of kids, especially Kuwabara" Hiei sank his shoulders and neck into himself as he realized the disappointment of Kurama and Yusuke who were left without the jester of the night. Kuwabara again spewed hateful words and promises of death to Yusuke. Hiei realized that the environment was better with Kazuma with his mouth closed, that does not mean that he has less aversion to childishness "You are just kids, ridiculous" heard the last word duplicated by Yusuke's voice, then the word Jinx hit his head like a hammer so high and shrill.
Urameshi laughed at how easy it was to catch the fire demon for fun, after all the shrimp's favorite word is: ridiculous. It was possible to see the smoke coming out of the body of the spiky hair, but before he could spit any insult, Kumara sealed his lips as a warning.
"You can't say anything until you hear your name, babe" the fox smiled at the situation "Or a world of bad luck will fall on your shoulders"
"Fuck this human superstition," he spat without patience, standing on the kotatsu. But he felt a twinge of regret when he saw Kurama's amused smile change to an expression of disappointment, he was irritated by the silence that followed "Don't look at me with that face, it's just ridiculous superstition" rolled his eyes at the judgmental expression of Kurama, the fox was the only creature that can offer a superior look from the bottom up.
"Superstitions are not nonsense, they exist for a reason" Kuwabara whispered as if he were playing a speech he had already heard, repressed a bad feeling. Kurama looked at him with familiarity, he was old enough to suspect everything.
"Anyway, I doubt that human nonsense will have an effect on a demon" Hiei was clearly looking away from the other three.
"Once, a very old witch in a store told me that: there is no entity that has privileges in this world, everyone pays the right price" Kurama offers a cold look "Even if you don't believe it, you should have learned your lesson on word taboo a few years ago, Hiei "
The last sentence hurt the pride of almost everyone in that room, Yusuke was uncomfortable, especially with the return to demonic matters. He decided to spend part of the night outside the apartment, smoking alone on the sidewalk of the building, there are things he prefers not to turn over.
The next day, Yusuke was mesmerized by an ad on television, even with the fickle image. He sighed at the idea of having such an expensive product at home, but only regretted the lack of money, keeping washing the dishes at a minimal pace. A disgusting smell accompanied by a black stain took him out of the trance, Hiei passed him, followed by a stinky cloud. Yusuke opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.
"Don't say a damn word" Hiei offered the scariest look that his filthy condition allowed "The guts of a damned youkai exploded in me" continued his march to the bathroom.
"Don't forget to close the window curtain" he shouted without taking his hands off the dishes "They say there's a pervert in the building in front" he added in a lower voice. He don't understand that kind of people, wouldn't it be easier to pay the adult channel subscription, like everyone else? The amount is not even high, but the station certainly earns a fortune for the number of subscribers. A light was turned on in his head, certainly by his most wicked side.
A few minutes later he received the news of the cold water of shower, at that moment he wished to drown in the water in the kitchen sink. Hiei passed the towel over his head while watching Yusuke's pathetic scene, rolled his eyes before sitting on the tatami in the room. Yusuke was brought out of his limbo of sadness by an unexpected comment.
"Humans have a bizarre relationship with the bodies of others" Hiei twisted his face at the advertisement with bikini girls on television before the screen goes black.
"Some people think that nudity sells better than anything else" Yusuke sits beside the device while hitting the screen hoping for a miracle. A minute of silence runs between them. Urameshi is in an internal struggle, where his morals and despair are punching each other. Hiei's comment, added to the situation and his own speech gave him an idea, but how wrong would it be? And how wonderful would it be to have an expensive air conditioner like the one from the earlier advertisement? He watched the other man finish drying his hair.
Hiei knew very well what that quick white light was that flashed in his direction, he twisted his face at the situation as he stood up. Looked at Urameshi looking like an idiot, how pathetic was that situation? He mumbled something before putting on his shirt, picking up his sword and disappearing onto the porch.
Yusuke released his breath after the other's evil energy disappeared from his radar. He touched the black circle on his cell phone, but the knock on the door and the smell of cigarette distracted him. Seeing Shizuru outside the apartment gave him some hope, but that hours later left the elevator with girl. Despair knocked out the morale when he heard Shizuru praise the fox, damn the moral and ethical relations, he wanted to rest his ass in a room with an air conditioner of almost 10 thousand yen.
Yusuke was laughing alone at the end of Tuesday night, the silence of the empty food stand was interrupted only by the sound of the train not far away. The hot night must have startled people on the street, probably the potential customers were all at home enjoying the functional air conditioning, so the cook got stuck in the world of his cell phone. He looked across the street when a familiar youki approached. Hiei sat at the counter with a grunt, he wanting to talk a lot today. So creep. Yusuke didn't stop raising an eyebrow, what can be so interesting that the fire demon is eager to resolve it before they meet in the apartment? During the conversation, he realized that there was no anxiety about the weather, but about who was going to listen. Hiei didn't say it out loud once, but Yusuke was able to read in his red eyes that the information was limited to them.
"What do you think?" Hiei's voice came out cold and determined
Yusuke reflected while setting up a bowl of ramen for his friend. It's not like he doesn't want to fight anymore, but a month ago something inside him said it was better to stay out of trouble, he just didn't know why. He saw his friend start eating in silence, he understood that Hiei gave him time to think, but that time was not that long. Judging by his friend's discretion, Urameshi assumed that the current King of Makai and the spiritual world itself are ignorant of this, otherwise he would have already received a visit from Botan or the prince himself.
"Fickle energy" repeated the words in his own mouth. Scary coincidence. "Some change and some disappear for no reason" repeats the other's words as if he needed to hear from himself. Hiei shakes his head positively while eating. "Why don't you want to tell anyone?" lit a cigarette.
"If there is one thing I learned from living with Kurama, it is: inside information is the most powerful thing anyone can have"
"When he finds out he's going to kill you, or worse, kick your ass" Yusuke uttered the phrase so casually that Hiei spilled the contents of the bowl on his lap. The cook laughed at the truth told while handing a cloth to his friend, a memory made him question "Bad luck day?" This conversation is not over yet, but Yusuke decided to keep a relationship and record it in homeopathic doses.
"Idiots" mumbled when the cook looked at his cell phone "You and Kurama are two idiots" the other looked truly confused "Surely the fox has dozens of hiding places full of treasures in Makai, while you, Raizen's heir, also have several treasures the disposition" passed the eyes by the light emitted by the device "You could enjoy these riches in Makai himself, or, since you insist on simulating human life, could exchange for that human money that they talk about so much "Hiei smiled, clearly judging the former detective "But they prefer to submit to absurd situations, that's what I call boredom" he was amused by the face of the cook "Who's going to be kicked in the ass?"
"I am not the one who is sinking in bad luck"
The next day, those words swirled around the ex-detective's head when they raffled who would be sacrificed in the task of doing the laundry. Hiei did not take out the smallest toothpick, Yusuke was disappointed, it seems that the bad luck is gone. On the other hand, his own luck was going well. His evil idea of trade yielded good monetary fruits, after lunch the device was already working. To complete the good development of the day, he managed to capture the alleged responsible for all the electrical problems in the apartment, a youkai binbougami who has never been hit so hard in his life, this one had a bad day.