Wow, this chapter was hard to write. I think I confused myself with my poor outline. I have no idea how I got off track already.
Anyway, I managed to not use as many quotes this time! :)
1. "If it frustrates you, show me a bit of how much you've matured." This is from chapter 1, and episode 1. Shiro says this to Rin before he leaves for his interview.
2. "I still haven't shown you anything yet, old man." This is still chapter 1, but episode 2. Rin has a flashback about the previous quote and says this to himself as he makes up his mind to draw Kurikara.
3. "You never tell me anything. Sometimes, I want to be alone too. So, if you don't want me to ask, I won't." This is from chapter 74, during the Aomori Arc. Rin says this to Yukio during the middle of the night, but Yukio pretends he's asleep and doesn't respond.
4. "I began training when I was seven. I was infected with Temptaint by my twin brother at birth. I've been able to see demons since before I could crawl." Yukio tells Rin this in chapter 2, episode 3.
5. "I've noticed something. You're hiding something...so, remember this. If things get rough, you can rely on me. " This is the second part of quote 3, which Rin says to Yukio.
Rin swipes at his face with his sleeve, hoping his eyes don't look too red—if anything, Yukio looks worse—as Maruta hands his sword back, apologizing profusely. Soon, the other priests start to look ashamed too and this really isn't the kind of reunion Rin had imagined.
"Ah, haha, it's fine, really, stop—"
Yukio sneezes twice in rapid succession and before Rin can scold him for not wearing a coat, Father Fujimoto pushes down on their heads, gentle hands ruffling their hair in familiar motions, "Both of you really grew up, huh," he sighs, hugging them close.
"How did this ever fall on your shoulders?" he murmurs, "I mean, only Mephisto would think it'd be a good idea to send you two to save the world."
"Shut up, you old fart," Rin mutters halfheartedly.
Father Fujimoto laughs, "What happened to my adorable son? You won't call me 'Tou-san' anymore?" and the memories come rushing back, like his scabbing wounds have been torn open, and once it starts Rin can't stop himself, he's crying so hard, he doesn't ever want to lose anyone again; how did he ever live through that?
Gentle fingers card through his hair and Rin thinks he can't breathe; how can he feel such anguish when he's supposed to be happy?
Father Fujimoto—Oyaji—gives his shoulder a firm squeeze, "I'm proud of you two," he says in a harsh whisper, "always."
If it frustrates you, show me a bit of how much you've matured.
Rin buries his head in the old man's coat, and in that moment, everything is perfect. He has Yukio back, his father is alive, his friends, all those precious people he has yet to meet...they'll be okay too.
He'll go find Mephisto tomorrow.
Just for today, he wants to stay here and forget about the things he needs to do, the task he needs to complete.
Tomorrow, he'll do whatever it takes.
I still haven't shown you anything yet, old man.
Once they all crowd back inside, Izumi rushes down the stairs in a flurry of anxious nerves, face slackening with shock when Father Fujimoto explains the situation to him.
"Uh, wow, okay," Izumi says as the rest of the priests gradually return to their tasks, "do you, er, want to go meet—"
There's a loud creak on the stairs and Rin's attention is drawn to the series of soft thumps as his younger self tugs Younger Yukio down the steps, "Oh! Look Yukio, it's the old man who hugged us earlier!"
Rin's jaw drops and he has to stop himself from blowing up as he hears laughter behind him. He throws a glare at them, prompting Izumi to scamper away, while Yukio's shoulders continue to shake as he covers his mouth.
Rin squats down so he can be at eye level with his younger self, trying to keep his eyebrow from twitching in irritation. "Hey, I'm Yuki's older brother. Just call me Rinka. And, I'm only seventeen." he says firmly.
Younger Rin crosses his thin little arms as Younger Yukio mumbles a quiet, "Nice to meet you."
"But you look like an old man," his younger self retorts, "Why is your hair all white?"
Rin rams his elbow into Yukio's bony ribs, "Stop laughing," he hisses, "why is this happening?"
"You're our cousin too?" Younger Yukio asks meekly, "Will you play with us outside then?"
"Yeah!" Younger Rin beams, "we're going to make a huge snowman!"
Rin glances at Yukio for a minute, "Sure, but Yuk—Yuki has a cold, so he has to stay inside, okay?"
"What?" Yukio sputters, "Nii-san, I—"
"Come on, let's go already!" Younger Rin insists, pulling him out the door. He gestures to the lumpy ball of snow enthusiastically, "This is the head!"
Rin feels lightheaded as a delicate warmth settles in his chest. He stares at their faces, wanting to savor the moment. Somehow, they can be happy over the smallest things, and it's almost a novelty to Rin at this point. It's been a long time since he last played in the snow.
He grins, "You two roll the middle. I'll make the base," he instructs, heading over to the small shed for a pair of gloves.
Soon, the snowman is successfully assembled, and Rin's back feels sore from heaving the enormous ball of snow around the yard. The snowman sports unfortunate brown patches of mud, covered in uprooted grass, and dead leaves, but Rin quickly covers it with some fresh snow to patch it up.
Little Rin and Yukio take to him more easily than he'd expected, and it feels nice—kind of cool—to be the older cousin of two tiny versions of themselves.
"Rinka-san! This, can you put this on the snowman for me?" Younger Yukio asks, holding a remarkably shiny black rock out.
Rin grins, "Yeah," jamming the rock into the snowman's midsection, along with a few other dirty pebbles his younger self brings over. He steps back, "I have a secret mission for you two," he whispers, "do you think you can handle it?"
Younger Rin nods with determination gleaming in his eyes, "What?"
"So," Rin begins, lowering his voice, "I have an idea."
The two little kiddos' eyes sparkle with anticipation as Rin explains his plan. He gives himself a mental pat on the back for his brilliant creativity as he watches them leave, rushing back into the house.
He waits outside, idly wrapping his borrowed scarf—probably Nagamoto's—around the snowman and adding some dead leaves for hair.
A smile edges onto his face as he hears an indignant screech, seeing little Rin and Yukio burst out the door, holding Yukio's poor cracked glasses out to Rin with matching grins of accomplishment.
He stabs them into the snowman's face without a moment's hesitation, turning around just as Yukio comes to a stop before the snowman, breaths coming out in short, agitated clouds.
"We named him Yuki-chan after you," Rin announces.
"Great, it's a work of art, Nii-san, now give my glasses back," Yukio huffs.
"What?" Rin asks innocently, "then Yuki-chan won't be able to see—"
"I won't be able to see," Yukio deadpans.
Rin spreads his hands, shrugging as he turns to their younger selves, "I guess Yu—Yuki needs them back," he frowns.
Younger Yukio turns to Yukio, pouting slightly, "Can we keep them on a little longer? Just for today?"
"Yeah, just for today!" Younger Rin tugs on Yukio's sleeve, "We want to show Tou-san."
Rin watches in mild surprise as Yukio's resolve holds valiantly for several seconds only to crack with another persistent tug from Younger Rin. Yukio sighs, pinching his nose bridge, "Okay, just for today."
Then, he gives the snowman one last squint before heading back inside and proceeds to walk straight into the glass door.
Rin hauls the two kids back inside, shutting the door tightly as he rubs his hands together, trying to warm them back up. "Are you guys hungry?"
Younger Yukio nods, an excited smile spreading across his face. "You can cook, Rinka-san?"
"Yep, I'm—"
"Sukiyaki! Can you make sukiyaki?" Younger Rin interrupts, eyes shining with hopefulness.
Yukio looks up from where he's sitting at the table, "If you need any ingredients, Father Fujimoto gave me some cash."
Rin scratches his head as he heads over to the fridge, "I'll see what we've got, I guess."
He opens it and is met with plenty of bread, leftover rice, eggs, ham, a huge paper bag of apples, some random vegetables, condiments, weird herbs, and a small container of leftover hijiki salad. Next, he checks the freezer, finding a good amount of frozen fish, some chicken breasts, a bucket of ice cubes, frozen corn and some other crap he's too tired to try organizing.
"Is everyone else out?" Rin asks, "I'll make them lunch if they're around. Where did Izumi go?"
"They all left together," Yukio holds up a little slip of paper, "it's awfully trusting of them, to leave those two to us."
Rin frowns, "How long are they going to be gone?"
"They'll be back by tonight. I think they left in a hurry," Yukio mentions, "I'm not certain what has happened."
"Oh, so we're basically babysitting."
Yukio shrugs, "I don't mind it."
"Alright," Rin claps his hands together, pulling an apron from a drawer, "I'll throw something simple together for lunch, then we can go shop for things to have sukiyaki tonight."
"Yay!" Younger Rin cheers.
"Thank you!" Younger Yukio adds, as Yukio helps him hang his coat up.
"Hehe," Rin smirks, "it's been too long."
He doesn't have time to thaw any fish or chicken, so he pulls the egg carton out and decides to make a variation of his specialty.
Fifteen minutes later, Rin sets out four dishes of omurice, plus some small dishes of the hijiki salad, watching with satisfaction as the golden sheen of the eggs wobbles over the rice. "Hey, wash your hands and come eat!"
"Whoa!" Younger Rin's eyes widen as he watches Rin slice the egg, letting the steaming, liquid gold spill over the small mountain of fried rice.
"Ohh, cool," Younger Yukio adds as Rin slices his too.
Yukio smiles, "Itadakimasu."
"Itadakimasu!" Younger Rin and Yukio echo, excitedly digging in.
Rin pulls his apron off and takes a seat, watching as the three of them begin to eat.
"Dis is so—"
"Nii-san, don't talk when you're still chewing," Younger Yukio reprimands.
Rin hides a smile as Younger Rin pouts, chewing with his cheeks puffed like a chipmunk.
"It's good, right?" Rin asks smugly, "This isn't even the best I can do. It's been a year since I cooked anything, you know. I've been eating cardboard for more than half—"
He stops, watching in concern as Yukio bows his head, setting his spoon down with a trembling hand. He covers his mouth slowly and Rin watches as his eyes shut, brows furrowing as though in pain.
"Uh, Yukio? Oh crap, did I mess up on yours?" Rin reaches over to grab his plate, "Here, eat mine instead, or I'll go remake you one."
But Yukio shakes his head, and as Rin watches him more closely, he notices his other hand is clenched in his lap.
"Are your hands hurting?"
Yukio doesn't respond. Instead, he lowers his hand away from his mouth, bending forward as he starts to curl in on himself. His whole body seems to shake and Rin freezes as he sees he's crying.
Crap, crap, was his omurice that bad? Is Yukio going to hurl—it looks like he's in pain. Rin's definitely out of practice, with how busy he'd been. What if he'd added too much salt, or—
"I'm sorry," Yukio says, voice just above a whisper, "It's just, I thought…"
He stays quiet for a long time, and to Rin, it feels stifling, like the absence of an important necessity. The longer it drags, the more the silence seems to consume. He doesn't like this. He doesn't like it when Yukio is like this.
But it passes in the blink of an eye and Yukio lets out a soft laugh, not taking his eyes off the plate in front of him.
"I thought I'd never get to eat your cooking again, Nii-san."
Rin sits there, stunned by his words.
He has no idea what happened to Yukio this past year. There's something heavy weighing him down, something indescribably frightening to Rin. Because as much as he'd like to believe neither of them has changed, he's wrong. Rin knows Yukio's hiding things; some things he thinks he'd rather not know.
You never tell me anything. Sometimes, I want to be alone too. So, if you don't want me to ask, I won't.
It's like how he felt before, with their past.
But he knows now, he needs to accept it regardless of his own uncertainties. He won't run from it again. Rin's going to make him spit it all out this time, no matter what.
"I'm sorry," Yukio repeats, smiling sheepishly, "it seems your cooking is so good, I was moved to tears."
"Shut up and eat already," Rin mutters, wishing his eyes would stop stinging, "you moley four-eyes."
"Those shoes," Rin remarks as he helps Younger Rin put his beanie on, "really clash, you know."
Yukio glares, leaning against the wall as he pulls the tall black boots on, "I don't want to hear that from you, Nii-san," he sighs.
"You know, I always thought their uniforms were lamer than the Order's."
"Oh, really?" Yukio asks, tone deceptively light, "I see you're wearing their coat now. What rank did you receive when you passed the exam?"
"Heh? Uh, oh, hey, what do you two want to eat? We'll buy you each a snack," Rin says.
"Yes!" Younger Yukio and Rin quickly begin to chatter animatedly.
It's unfortunate because it leaves Yukio the opportunity to continue grilling Rin, "So? Which rank?" he prompts.
"Agh, this is just the coat Mephisto gave me! It's not like they had time to give exams when they were busy fighting the—" Rin falters, "Sorry."
The silence stretches between them for a few moments until Yukio shakes his head, "It doesn't bother me. I made my own decision," he says, face carefully blank.
"Oh, look, persimmons are on sale! We should buy a lot," Rin grabs a cart quickly, watching as their younger selves bound off to the snacks section.
Yukio places two boxes of tofu in the cart, "Didn't you get a job here before? We should consider finding some places to work if we can," he muses.
"Ohh, right. Wait, you mean—"
"Yuki-san! Can I buy this?" Little Yukio waves a tiny package of Tamago Boro and Rin smiles immediately.
Yukio sets it in the cart, "Ahh, I forgot I used to like these."
"Can I buy this?" Younger Rin asks suddenly, holding a huge bag of those addicting little ramen snacks that Rin used to eat four or five packages of in one go.
"Hm, that's so salty," Rin protests. He sort of doesn't want to encourage his younger self's—
"It's fine," Yukio says indulgently, "I thought you liked these too."
"That's why—"
"It's fine," Yukio repeats, smiling as he gives Younger Rin a soft pat on the back, "you two can go pick one more thing if you like."
"Hey, Yukio," Rin warns as they dash off, "you're going to turn them into spoiled brats at this rate. What are you doing, becoming a doting grandpa?"
Yukio smirks, "I don't want to hear that from the one who has white hair."
Rin is about to retort when he feels a twinge at the back of his mind. He's gotten better at it now, but it's incredibly faint. Walking over to the freezer, he opens the door as he sneaks a glance back. He watches as an old granny talks to the little boy she's with, then switches to staring at the businessman inspecting a package of noodles.
Rin nearly jumps as he feels a gentle tap on his shoulder, "Is something wrong?" Yukio asks, keeping his voice quiet, "They'll notice if you keep staring."
Rin turns back, trying to stay composed as he leans close, whispering, "See those three people by the shirataki noodles? I think one of them is a demon."
Yukio's eyes widen and he nods swiftly, casually turning toward the freezers, checking the reflection on misty glass.
He turns back with a sullen look on his face, "I can't see."
Rin buries his face in his hands, "You can't? They're right there," he whispers, "are you that blind without your glasses?"
"You can't tell which one?"
"They all look normal," Rin says, squeezing a misfortunate bag of udon noodles in hands as he tries to fight the urge to look over his shoulder.
Yukio grabs the udon out of Rin's hands, placing it in the cart with enviable nonchalance, "Let's check out now. I'll line up. Nii-san, why don't you go find Yukio and Rin?"
Rin's heart sinks as he realizes he forgot about their younger selves—what if something happens to them—he should never have let them out of his sight.
He makes to dash off when Yukio grabs his hand, "Don't—we forgot to buy some rock salt," he says, "make sure you grab that first."
Rin furrows his brows in bewilderment, "What," but he feels something heavy drop into his coat pocket, and before he can stop him, Yukio pushes the cart away without glancing back.
Rin turns away too, walking at a hurried pace as he puts his hand in his pocket, trying to figure out what Yukio handed him. Once he gets far enough away, he pretends to be inspecting some bread as he pulls the cold, metal cylinder out.
It's a holy water grenade. Rin shoves it back into his pocket, fighting his own disappointment. He shouldn't have left Kurikara at the monastery and Yukio doesn't have his guns—even if he did, Rin doubts he could aim properly without his glasses.
He shakes his head, hurrying over to the snack aisle. He needs to focus on finding their younger selves first.
Rin walks past three aisles, becoming more anxious as he realizes he's lost track of that tingly feeling. What was Yukio thinking? They shouldn't have split up; what is he supposed to do?
Rin comes to a stop, rushing to the aisle he came from as he spots a familiar looking grey mitten on the ground. His heart plummets as he sprints past two more aisles, still not seeing them at all—
"Nii-san, over here! Did you get the salt?"
Rin turns around, finding Yukio quickly, and standing beside him is the old granny from earlier—
Their younger selves are standing next to the cart, unharmed and safe.
"Ohh, uh," Rin tries to catch his breath as he lets out an embarrassed laugh, pushing his way through the checkout line to where they're waiting, "I forgot."
Yukio reaches into the cart and Rin grabs the bags from him, "I'll hold them. Your hands are still healing."
"That's too heavy though," Yukio objects. He lowers his voice, taking two bags from Rin, "it's not natural if you're seen carrying so many."
"What's going on? Is the demon gone?" Rin glances over his shoulder nervously.
"Stop looking back," Yukio warns. "We need to stop by the craft store."
"Shouldn't we hurry back home?" Rin protests, "What are you—"
Yukio shakes his head, "This road is more populated. They wouldn't try anything when so many people are around."
Younger Yukio tugs at his sleeve upsettingly, "Rinka-san, I can't find it," he tugs again, scrunching his eyebrows together, "I lost my mitten," he says guiltily.
Rin snaps out of his confusion, leaning down to set his bags down. "Oh, I picked it up earlier," he hands it back, "don't lose it again, okay?"
Younger Yukio sneezes once and Yukio produces a tissue from nowhere, "Let's walk a little faster. We're almost there."
A few minutes later, they pile into the enormous craft store, and Yukio leaves his bags with Rin, rushing off, "Stay here, I'll be done soon."
Rin watches tensely as his younger self plays around with some discount holiday ornaments.
"Rinka-san," Younger Yukio bites his lip as his eyes dart toward the entrance nervously, "is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong," Rin responds immediately, "we'll be home soon."
He still looks nervous though. Rin knows him well, so he can tell what's bothering him is nothing simple; it's that strange, illogical fear Rim remembers him having since...well he'd always been oddly afraid.
It doesn't make sense to Rin because Yukio hardly seems to be afraid of anything now; he was always better at hiding things than Rin. As they grew older, it'd just quietly disappeared, so Rin had forgotten about it. But he remembers clearly, Yukio had seemed to be incredibly anxious at times, even in broad daylight and when they were alone. There had been nothing Rin could think of doing to comfort him other than beating up his bullies.
And it'd been hard—it's still hard—to see him pull away, as though he couldn't bear to be helped, to inconvenience anyone.
"I saw Hira-kun from school," Younger Yukio says, and Rin nods avidly, "but..."
"It's okay, you can tell me," Rin offers, "what's wrong?"
Younger Yukio hesitates, glancing back at Younger Rin quickly, "His...his eyes were yellow. He kept staring at Nii-san," he twists his mittens in his little hands, looking down at the floor with an ashamed expression flittering across his features.
"What? When did you see him?"
"Earlier, at the grocery store," Younger Yukio admits. "I don't know why...Nii-san can't see sometimes. When I talk about it, they...they can't ever see."
Rin reaches over and puts a hand on his shoulder, "Wait, you—"
I began training when I was seven. I was infected with Temptaint by my twin brother at birth. I've been able to see demons since before I could crawl.
No...he'd somehow forgotten. Rin didn't realize before, because in reality, he was the one who was protected. As a kid, he'd thought it was a little weird but he was always weirder himself, so it didn't bother him; that Yukio sometimes talked about things that weren't there, that he couldn't see before.
It makes sense now. Of course, he would be frightened; of course, he'd eventually become closed off to Rin. He'd been completely unaware for so long.
Yukio has always known of this world; because of Rin—
"Nii-san, I'm finished," Yukio announces.
"Took you long enough," Rin complains, "let's go home already." He steps closer, "Your younger self said he saw his classmate, with yellow eyes."
"The little boy we saw then," Yukio frowns. "That's difficult to deal with. We should let Tou-san handle it once he's back."
The rest of the walk home is marginally better. Rin doesn't sense any demons anymore, but he finds himself still unusually tense.
He watches their past selves walk on short, weak limbs, and it scares him; how defenseless they are.
It's only when they get back to the monastery, that Rin feels he can relax again.
He carries their bags of groceries inside, beginning to organize them into the fridge. He has all this energy now and he needs to expend it somehow before he can calm down.
Rin gives little Yukio and Rin each a tiny ramen snack package, hoping to occupy them long enough so he can talk to Yukio.
But after looking through a few empty rooms, Rin sees Yukio seated at a desk with a sharp tension to his movements. He pulls out the contents of his bag from the craft store and a pad of paper, beginning to write with startling urgency.
"What are you doing?" Rin asks, picking up one of the tiny brown glass bottles curiously, "Want any help?"
Yukio doesn't pause in his writing though, and Rin tries to push the dejected restlessness he feels aside as he goes to leave the room.
"I need you to run an errand for me," Yukio tears the sheet off, holding it out to Rin, "use a key and make sure you keep your face hidden."
He opens one of the drawers, pulling out a garbage bag. As he opens it, Rin peers over his shoulder, intending to get a closer look, when the odor of burnt cloth and ash wafts out.
Yukio shoves some clothes to the side, rummaging until he pulls out a familiar ring of keys.
"You kept those?" Rin asks incredulously, "Man, you didn't even have a pair of spare glasses, but you brought those with you?"
Yukio grimaces, "I was accepted into the Illuminati as a visiting researcher, initially." He tears off another sheet of paper, beginning to draw a slightly shaky circle. "This was the outfit they gave me. I used it as a disguise...recently. It's fortunate I never took the keys out."
Rin hums, "Okay, then why do you need," he looks down at the little note, "all these...what are these? You want me to go right now? Where am I supposed—" Rin accepts a key from Yukio and then everything clicks.
"You—you want me to go to the exorcist supply store?" Rin sputters, mind spinning in confusion.
"I need you to buy these ingredients without leaving anything to trace back to us. We can't let Tou-san catch onto what I'm doing."
"What are you doing?"
"Right now, I just need those ingredients," Yukio replies, focusing on folding the singed clothes back neatly.
I've noticed something. You're hiding something...so, remember this. If things get rough, you can rely on me.
Rin tears the uniform out of his hands—that hateful symbol of the distance between them—and he grabs Yukio's shoulder, forcing him to face Rin.
Yukio flinches, eyes widening—it almost feels like he's less guarded without his glasses—in surprise, before they close off, like a pair of curtains being drawn.
"I— I want," Rin grips his shoulder tightly, and suddenly, he's afraid to hear Yukio's response, "I want to know what you're planning," he clenches his jaw, fighting to keep his temper down, "I can't stand when you keep everything inside, when I—" the rest of the sentence dies in his throat as Yukio pushes his hand off.
"I need you to do this first," Yukio says impassively, "I can't risk waiting any longer." He stands, pushing past Rin to retrieve the uniform from the floor, "Then, we can talk."
Notes:
Hello!
Thank you for reading this! :D I was thinking of making this chapter purely fluff, but you see, I learned recently in my human physiology class, there's this thing called the sodium-glucose cotransporter (SGLT1), and it's basically why adding salt makes things sweeter. :D
You may have noticed, I changed the summary to a kind of vague description? My friend/not-willing-to-be-my-beta, willowcatkin was like, "who the heck is Tasaka? You need to fix this." OTL
Okay, so I decided not to have Rin convert to calling Yukio, "Yuki" immediately (and honestly, I kept typing Yukio on accident for him anyway) so, he's going to gradually start doing it a little later.
I mentioned some Japanese foods, so here's the little section where I'll try to describe these foods poorly. XD
- Sukiyaki: Everyone probably knows this, but it's kind of like hot pot. It's a nice meal to have during winter because you cook the meat, veggies, noodles and other cool stuff all together on the table in an iron pot. It's the thing they were supposed to eat together in episode 1 after Rin got his job. Also, in the Kuro no Iede OVA, Rin and Kuro eat it together.
- Omurice: This is like a cool fried rice dish, plus a really cool omelette on top, or wrapped around the rice. There's usually ketchup used as sauce, but the one that Rin makes in the movie for Usamaro and Kuro had a bunch of fancy seafood in it, which looked really yummy (The Super Yellow Okumura Rin Special). They really animated that scene super well. I think I was re-winded like, at least four times to watch that egg bounce. Anyway, the one he makes in this fic is a little simpler because he didn't have time to thaw shrimp, calamari and other cool stuff.
- Tamago Boro: Also called 蛋果子 or 小馒头 in Chinese. This is literally super good. They're little egg biscuits made with a mix of flour, potato starch, egg, milk (not always) and some other things. Anyway, usually babies and little kids eat them. They're not too sweet, but they kind of melt in your mouth after a few seconds. :D Also, the packaging is usually pretty cute too.
- Ramen Snack: Hmm, I'm not entirely sure if this is a thing in Japan, but there's this really good Taiwanese snack called Little Prince Ramen, 小王子麺 (xiǎo wángzǐ miàn) and it's kind of a pun off 面 (miàn) which means noodle. Anyway, they usually come in little mini packages, that experienced consumers known to shake before opening, and I've heard that they have MSG, but I mean, they taste really good, so...
- Shirataki: Really pretty, clear looking noodles made from konjac yam. Their name means "white waterfall" which I think is really poetic and neat. ^^
- Udon: A chewy and thick noodle that's made from wheat flour. Usually, unlike some other noodles (like rice ones and ramen) sold dry, shirataki is in water, and udon is packaged fresh (we hope) and raw noodles, which is why Rin can squeeze them without like, snapping all of them in the same way you would end up snapping spaghetti noodles. Also, that's why udon and shirataki are usually in the freezer section (or, at least, I know udon is. I can't remember if shirataki always is). Both of them are common choices for sukiyaki.
Also, Yukio tells Rin to go buy rock salt for two reasons, one that I'm not going to tell you for now, and also because in the Volume 15 extras, there's a little line that says it's effective against demons, and particularly the eastern kind. But, Rin was panicking, so he forgot. :P
The craft store I'm thinking of is like Michael's, so kind of a really big franchise. IDK, mainly lots of people and lots of really neat stuff.
Okay, so I realized, it feels a tiny bit gross that Yukio's keeping his old clothes in a garbage bag (especially for his personality, I feel like he should never do that), but he'll clean them soon, I promise. Just think of it as a temporary laundry hamper, with...some other stuff in it. He's just kind of busy. T.T
Alright, last thing, I feel kind of bad for ending the chapter on such a sour note. I mean, Rin's all like, I'll do it tomorrow, then Yukio starts on it today, and it just makes me kind of irked. It reminds me too much of when I'm procrastinating on studying and my roommate has all her notes out already. XD But this chapter is already a little longer than my usual ones, so I wanted to cut it off here. We'll be switching to Yukio's POV soon. :)
Again, thank you so much for all of your support! You guys are the best! I'm always super happy to know that people are reading this, so it really means a lot to me when you guys leave kudos and comments, or bookmark and other things. :)
I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!
- bluewindfall