Disclaimer: (Me: Directs reader's attention to first installment with red flags) ,
Author's Note: Um, yes. Happy Readings!
ooo
Jin watched as the slender hand of his icy lover gently flipped the slightly yellowed page of a book that humans considered a "classic". Touya seemed to be infinitely fascinated by it and had barely put the piece of literature down for several days. Jin, on the other hand, was simply fascinated that Touya was so fascinated, as his companion rarely showcased his personal likes and dislikes. The ice youkai seemed to have a certain amount of passion for reading, a passion, Jin imagined, that was only surpassed by Touya's passion for him. Jin often sat along side his love and partook in this passion so that he might become even closer to the one he adored and admired so.
However, with the sun having fled from the drab weather for so many days, Jin was slowly becoming bored with the daily practice of waking up and spending the day reading.
A rather large yawn escaped Jin's mouth, and he quickly collapsed from the cushioned sofa arm, making a sloppy but over all successful landing atop the petite youkai. The impact caused Touya to drop the heavy book, which thudded to the floor and closed itself as if it were somehow offended by the harsh treatment.
Touya raised a thin eyebrow at the obviously premeditated act and sighed.
"Are you quite through now, Jin?" He asked, his easy voice lingering in the still atmosphere of the otherwise quiet room.
Blue eyes regarded him playfully. "Um, I dunno. Can I think about it a moment?" He asked with an all too innocent look on his cherub face.
Touya rolled his striking eyes and made the effort to shove Jin off of his lap and on to the floor, where Jin landed right next to the haughty old book. The wind master watched on in jealous dismay as the ice youkai chose to rescue his book from the floor instead of his lover. But, never one to be ignored, Jin climbed to his feet and sighed.
"Aren't ya tired of that thing yet, Touya?" He inquired.
Touya shrugged, never looking up to his lover, and flipped to the page where he had left off. "What's to be tired of?" He countered.
Jin wrinkled his nose at the comment, and his ears slumped to further indicate his discontent. "It's been the same thing for hours n' hours n' days n' days! The book hasn't done anything the least bit exciting." He said.
Touya sighed softly and lowered his favored book so that it lay neatly in his exquisite lap. "Jin, love, if you are so disinterested, why don't you find something else to do with your time? There's no mandate stating that you absolutely must stay here and enjoy everything that I do," he explained.
A pout was Touya's initial answer. "I enjoy spending time with you, and I like reading with you, but we've been doin' it since the rain started, and it hasn't stopped for three days, and I'll be damned if we're STILL reading."
The ice master merely shook his head. "Find Rinku. He's been moping around the house for days. Surely a pair with minds as creative as both of yours can conjure up something to occupy your time with."
Jin grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest. He tossed Touya a look of obvious discontent in hopes that he might succeed in moving his love's stony emotions in his favor. Alas, the petite master of ice merely threw back a meaningless smile and returned to his task.
He sighed in defeat. "A'right, ya win," he muttered as he turned and began walking out of the room.
He looked over his shoulder just in time to see a pale hand flip an ancient page and could've sworn the book was smirking at him. 'Ch, whatever,' he thought idly.
If there was one thing Jin was good at, it was preoccupying himself. He didn't need Touya to fill his time, though he much preferred it when Touya did. Perhaps he WOULD go and find young Rinku, and they could compose some bit of rubbish to entertain themselves with. He was a good kid, too. Jin had always liked him and had a soft spot in his heart for the little orphan. No one, not even Chuu, was sure what happened to his parents. Rinku never spoke of it, and out of courtesy they hadn't asked. There were orphaned kids all over the Makai, and Jin believed Rinku was just grateful to have a semblance of family.
A lopsided smile fell upon his lips as he passed the dining room. They barely used it and, as a result, the room had fallen victim to many a wrestling match between himself, Chuu, Rinku, and sometimes even Suzuki, Shishi, and Touya. As he thought of it, every room held a memory of a sort, even the upstairs storage closet! In fact, it was one of his favorites, as it was the very place where Touya and he had admitted their feelings for one another. He passed by the bathroom and chuckled as he recalled the time he and Chuu had caught Shishi singing in the shower, and he smiled as he saw the conservatory where he and Touya had gotten a little wild, rolled into the table, and knocked off a bunch of Suzuki's experimental cactus plants. The smile quickly transformed into a droll grimace as he thought about the painful hour it had taken he and his lover to pluck the relentless needles from their skin.
His keen ears twitched at the sound of the television coming from the living room. Cheerful orange light poured from the wide doorway onto the dark floor of the hallway. As he neared the room he could picture Chuu slumbering away on the couch, surrounded by sake bottles. The television would be on, showcasing yet another dramatic soap opera wherein you would find out that Carrie's baby actually belonged to Joe the baker, whose kind personality and rugged good looks had stolen her heart from her husband, that cruel mob boss, Frankie.
A chuckle once again bubbled up from between Jin's lips. It was all so predictable, but Chuu drank it up like it was another bottle of alcohol.
He was very close to entering the living room, and that classic image was still in his mind, which was why when he turned the corner he stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes went wide at the strange sight in front of him. On one side of the large living room was a bunch of sheets and blankets that were either tied, taped, or held to the table, wall, buffet, and swinging kitchen door that made up the majority of that side of the room. On the opposite side of the room were more sheets and blankets held up in the same manner, only they enshrouded the couch, picture window, and the wall that harbored a small, decorative table that held Chuu's CD player. Looking down, Jin found a white chalk line drawn vertically on the hardwood floor extending from the doorway he stood in and all the way to the stairs that lead to the upper level of their house.
Confusion written all over his face, Jin took a hesitant step into the room that was once the living room. Now it was . . . it was . . .
"What he hell is this?" He asked aloud, when his mind failed to find a word to describe the madness in front of him.
Suddenly, Chuu poked his head out from beneath one of the many sheets on his side of the living room, the one with the couch and picture window.
Jin's eyes widened, and he barely muffled his laughter at the sight of his friend. "Chuu," he started. "What in the world is that wok doing strapped to your head?" He
inquired and rightfully so.
Chuu regarded him with a grin. "To protect my brain, I'd hate to damage it!" He
winked and gave himself a playful knock on his partially bald cranium.
Jin laughed. "If thas what protects your head, I'd hate ta think what protects your goods!" He exclaimed.
Chuu just grinned and brought his arm up to take a swig from his sake bottle.
Jin continued his laughter until he could manage to ask his question once more. "Now what is goin' on in here? It's like a war zone or somethin'!"
Much to the wind master's surprise, Chuu's face took on a sudden look of seriousness. "Civilian in the area! In-coming! Get down!" The large man shouted, and then disappeared under his makeshift tent.
Jin blinked in confusion. "What are ya--"
But it was too late. From the opposite side of the room, flour bombs were launched into the air. One hit the floor, exploding into a dizzying cloud of white that caused Jin's bewilderment to increase, one hit the top of Chuu's fort, and the other landed right on the former Shinobi's red head. Flour coated his hair and face, and he was shocked, to say the least. He blinked in amazement as Rinku appeared from his respective fort on the opposite side of the room, a pillow tied to the top of his head.
"Oh the casualties of war! An innocent civilian!" He said dramatically. "Will I be forgiven for the brutal acts that battle has forced out of me! Woe is me, for I feel the fires of eternal damnation creeping up behind me! Devil take me, but I fight the good fight till the day you claim me!" Rinku's young face was twisted into a look of sorrow and pain for his apparent dastardly act, and then as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared beneath his protective sheets, battle pillow and all.
Jin stood in the middle of the room for a moment, quietly pondering the odd occurrences before it finally hit him like a hammer to a nail. A familiar grin spread across his face, and he grabbed a cushion from the sofa and secured it to his torso with a roll of forgotten electric tape next to the coffee table. He shook his head to rid himself of some of the flour before throwing one arm up into the air and proclaiming, "Revenge shall be MINE!" Without a further moment of hesitance, Jin crawled under the sheets and blankets that housed the wok protected Chuu.