Warnings: None
Lucky Child
Chapter 05:
"All Things are Possible Through Science"
I met Kuwabara Kazuma way before Keiko was supposed to, and completely by chance.
It was on another free-range excursion to the park. He'd piled a knee-high mound of dirt dangerously close to the swings. No one was on the swings, which was good, because the kid was in serious danger of getting kicked in the side of his big old head if someone decided swinging was right up their alley.
And it was right up my alley, that day. I was seriously missing my adult height and wanted to relive it by swinging as high as I could—so yeah, when I saw him, the first thing I felt was abject annoyance.
Ugh. Kids.
Maybe other kids would swing anyway, not realizing this asshole was in the danger zone…but not me. Nope. I couldn't swing in good conscience with him so close to the swing set. Looks like I'd have to actually interact with him (kill me) to get him to move.
Sometimes being responsible was exhausting.
Steeling myself to deal with a child who was already on my shitlist, I marched over to the kid, stood tall, and put my hands on my hips. I was fully prepared to use my best Mom Look to get my way. This guy was clearly bigger than me, even sitting down, with blocky features that even a decent helping of baby fat did little to soften. His hair was fluffy and curly, too, adding to his apparent height—and wow, those were some broad shoulders for an eight-year-old. I'd need all the sass I could muster if I wanted to get this monster to shove off.
He didn't notice when I approached. He just gazed at his mound of dirt with an expression I can only describe as 'forlorn.' Like he'd been told he was never allowed to own another teddy bear (or whatever it is kids liked—furbies or some shit, I don't even know). I waited a full minute but he didn't acknowledge my presence. When my ire reached critical mass, I drew myself up to speak—but then the kid did something odd. Odd even for a kid.
The mound of dirt he'd made was pointed at the top, with a little hole dug in the peak. He took a fistful of dirt and placed his hand inside the hollow. Then he jerked his hand and let the dirt fly upward in a gravelly rain.
"Boom," he said.
There was no joy in that word. No childish glee.
Just resignation.
Just…blah?
Even I, the renowned child-resenter, knew something had to be wrong.
"What are you doing?" I said.
He looked up, narrow eyes widening above cheekbones so sharp they could cut—and just like with Yusuke, the minute our eyes met, I knew who I was looking at. Those eyes, that curly hair, and those cheekbones were the stuff of anime legend. I went cold all over, stomach a ball of hollow ice.
…was this allowed?
Was I allowed to meet Kuwabara so early?
He looked as perturbed as I felt, though clearly for different reasons. He grabbed another fist of earth and threw it into the air.
"Boom," he repeated. He sighed like a deflated balloon. "It's a volcano. But it's dumb."
As the cold in me abated, I considered sprinting in the opposite direction. Keiko and Kuwabara didn't know each other in the anime—not until they intersected in the wake of Yusuke's death, when Yusuke possessed Kuwabara's body. That had always struck me as strange. Kuwabara and Yusuke interacted a lot, and Kuwabara, Keiko, and Yusuke all went to the same school. The idea that Keiko didn't at least know Sarayashiki's #2 Punk by sight didn't make sense. But the anime made it seem like they didn't know each other, so…
Like I said.
Was meeting him like this allowed?
The thing is, Kuwabara is my favorite Yu Yu Hakusho character (tied with Hiei; the pair constantly jockey for first place on my mental favorites list). The thought of running away from him because canon dictated it ruffled my jimmies.
He was my favorite, dammit. And much as I hated kids, getting to see him as a child was too cool an opportunity to pass up.
Canon could wait.
My inner fangirl could not.
This I had to see.
Against my better judgment, I found myself squatting next to the dirt-volcano. Kuwabara's eyes, watery and black, were too sad to ignore. He looked like a kicked bulldog puppy. An oversized, kicked bulldog puppy with a miniature afro.
"Why did you make a volcano, anyway?" I asked.
"Saw one on TV," he said, morose. "It looked cool. But this one's dumb."
"Why do you think this one's dumb?"
"Doesn't explode. Volcanoes are supposed to explode."
I said nothing. He pouted, jabbing at the dirt with his index finger. It was weird to see him with black hair instead of orange. Wasn't old enough to start bleaching it like a Yankee, I guess. He wore it in a mop of curls instead of a pompadour. Too young for that, too. Would these curls of his follow him into teenagedom, or would he have to start giving himself perms to achieve his anime look? Not that this style looked bad. The curls fell into his eyes, softening his features as he pouted and gazed at me with mournful, liquid irises—
Oh, god. He really did look like a kicked puppy. Even my Grinchy heart swelled at the sight.
"So you want this volcano to explode, huh," I said.
"Duh." He crossed his arms, back hunching, jaw jutting. "That's what volcanoes do."
I regarded the dirt mound a moment. Then I stood and brushed off my knees. It was a warm day, sunny, taste of spring in the air. A few yards away, cherry trees had just started to bloom.
"How long are you going to be here?" I asked.
Confusion painted his features. "Until my nee-san's exam is over. Why?"
I put my hand in the dirt mound, then spread my fingers and jerked them skyward. Kuwabara flinched as I made a whooshing sound between my teeth, but an eager smile appeared when I said: "We're gonna make your volcano go boom."
My mother didn't question why I wanted a bottle of vinegar, a box of baking soda, wax paper, red food coloring, and rice paper. I guess the Science Experiments for Kids book under my arm said it all. She packed everything into my backpack and told me to have fun before I scampered back to Kuwabara.
He'd stayed right where I left him. Dark eyes danced when they spotted me coming. Without saying a word, I knelt and lined the pit in Kuwabara's volcano with wax paper. Then I filled the resulting well with vinegar and two drops of the red dye. The acrid scent made my eyes water. I blinked back the tears and took out the rice paper, which I tore into four even squares. Kuwabara watched with interest and eagerly took a sheet of rice paper when I passed it to him.
"Make more squares," I said.
He did as I asked, eagerness and gusto evident in his jerky hands. When we had enough, I filled each square with baking soda and twisted the rice paper to make little closed packets. The rice paper stuck to itself when I wet it with some spit. Kuwabara watched with care and mimicked every move I made. I gathered all the packets and handed half of them to Kuwabara when we were through.
"On the count of three," I said, "we'll dump the packets into the vinegar." I waited for Kuwabara to nod, expression bordering fear and excitement, before commencing the count. "One. Two. Three!"
We dumped them in with a vinegary splash.
Nothing happened.
Kuwabara leaned forward, nose crinkled.
"When will it explode?" he asked.
I hooked a finger into the back of his shirt and pulled. He squeaked. It was adorable. Cursing my soft heart, I told him, "Just wait for it."
"Is this really going to explode?"
"All things are possible through science."
He started to ask questions—but then the volcano pit bubbled. His eyes bugged as bubbles and red foam frothed up to the top of the volcano's hollow. Then the liquid heaved in a snapping wave, splattering over the edges of the volcano and onto the ground. The foam actually caught a little air, like a real explosion, which was cool. Kuwabara leapt to his feet as the scarlet goop poured down the sides of the volcano in fizzing streams.
"Wow!" Kuwabara said. He hopped from foot to foot, mouth agape. "Wow—wow! It really exploded!"
He danced around the volcano until it went inert. I gave myself a mental pat on the back. He'd gotten his 'boom.' This was my good deed for the day. But why stop at just one good deed? We refilled the volcano and made it explode twice more, until we ran out of ingredients. Kuwabara looked a bit disappointed to learn we couldn't make it explode a fourth time, but even so, the smile wouldn't leave his face.
Now he looked like a happy puppy. That was better.
"Wow," he said. He sat on his heels, staring at the volcano with reverence. "That was awesome. But how did that work?"
"You ever shake a can of soda until it explodes?"
"Yeah?"
"The same stuff that makes soda bubbly is what made this explode. It's called carbon dioxide. When you mix vinegar and baking soda together, they combine to make carbon dioxide, and they explode."
"Whoa."
"Yeah. Science is cool."
"You bet." Kuwabara looked thoroughly impressed. "You're a scientist?"
"Not really. But I love reading about it."
I reached into my backpack and pulled out Science Experiments for Kids. Kuwabara frowned when I held it toward him.
"Here," I said. "You can have this. It's got experiments you can do at home."
He stared at the book like it was something out of a dream, and might vanish if he touched it. All wide-eyed wonder and surprise and hesitant glee.
My heart near 'bout melted. It was terrible.
"Me?" he asked. "I can do experiments. Me?"
"Yeah. It's really fun! You should try them all."
He looked beyond excited, I mean absolutely thrilled—but then his blocky little face turned serious.
"I want to," he said. He held the book toward me. "But this is yours. I can't take it."
Oh, that honorable little so-and-so. Even as a kid he had a code, sort of.
"Look, I've done all the experiments already," I told him. I pushed the book away. "I don't need it anymore." Then I tipped the boy a wink. He blushed crimson to the roots of his curly hair. "I need an advanced experiment guide, now!"
He still looked unsure. "B-but…"
If the kid needed more persuasion, I'd give it to him. He wound up loving science late in Yu Yu Hakusho. He didn't know it, but he'd love this book.
"Tell you what," I said. "Promise me you'll do all the experiments, and treat the book well, and give it to someone else someday—just like me. I did all the experiments, and then I gave it to you." He bashfully ducked his head when I shot him my most winning smile. "Deal?"
"Y-yeah—deal," he said…and then he stuck out his hand, with his pinky out, and face like a ripe apple. "Pinky swear."
Was this asshole trying to kill me with cute or what? I grinned and wrapped my own pinky around his.
"Then it's a deal," I said.
His face went supernova. He wrenched back his hand and shoved it in his pocket.
"Yeah, well, um—"
"Kazuma!"
Kuwabara's face lit up when he saw, over my unknowing shoulder, whoever had called his name. He darted around me and ran, waving the book I'd given him in the air. I turned and saw a tall man with blocky features and a long black ponytail walking over. The man bent from the waist so he could see the book and hear whatever it was Kuwabara was babbling. It went something like: "Look, look at what I got! We made a volcano go boom and it's because of carbon dioxide which is in soda and—"
The man had an earring in one ear and one of the most enthusiastic smiles I'd ever seen on his lips. This was obviously Kuwabara's dad. If the family resemblance didn't give it away, then the man's cameo in one of the manga's later chapters accomplished that just fine.
Curious though I was to see Kuwabara's family, I averted my eyes and ducked behind the slide next to the swings, out of sight. Keiko and Kuwabara weren't supposed to meet yet. No need to draw attention—
"Hey, kid. Why'd you give my baby bro that book?"
The voice came from my left. I flinched, spinning on my heel…and then I beheld Shizuru.
She sat on the end of the slide, elbows propped on her spread knees, and she stared like she was already sick and tired of dealing with a little shit-brat like me. She had to be, what, fifteen at this point in the Yu Yu Hakusho timeline? I was interested to note she wore her hair in a Mia Farrow pageboy cut, rather than her long hair from the show. She was already rocking menswear, though. Slacks, spats, and a fitted vest made her look like a 20s gangster in the best, most take-no-shit way possible.
I was in love with her at once.
In love, and in terror.
Because if anyone in this world could see through my childish charade, it was this young woman right here.
She bore my abject staring with patience. Eventually, though, she was forced to repeat herself. "Yo. Kid. My baby bro. That book. Why?"
"Oh, um—just being nice, I guess," I said.
"Liar."
It wasn't an accusation so much as a statement of boring fact. I began to protest, to tell her I was just nice and to leave me alone, but her baleful, unimpressed eyes stopped me cold.
Why had I wanted to give that book to Kuwabara, anyway?
I mean, the obvious answer was that I really liked him as a character, and seeing Kuwabara looking sad made my Grinchy heart grow three sizes. I'd given him the book to make a favorite character of mine happy, to make him stop looking like a kicked puppy…but thinking about it, Kuwabara liked science. He did by the end of the series, at least. What if giving him this book boosted his love of science earlier in the series? What if he got 70s on tests instead of 7s? I wasn't sure I could make a difference in his life with a single book, or if him getting better grades sooner would change anything about YYH as a whole, but…
Kuwabara was the heart of the team. He was loyal and kind, and he deserved the best.
More than that: Kuwabara was my favorite.
What would it hurt, to try and nudge him in the right direction earlier instead of later?
At face value and at first blush, I'd given him the book to make him happy. To make him stop looking like a kicked puppy. The chance of improved academics were just handy side effects. Which meant my original answer could stand, and wasn't a lie at all.
"I'm not lying. I thought he'd like it," I said, because it was the truth. "And maybe he'll like school better now. You never know."
Shizuru frowned. She considered me for a few seconds.
She said: "You're not what you seem, are you."
It wasn't a question.
Fear buckled my stomach, but I pushed it aside. I drew myself up—and I let the little-kid act drop. Because there was no use trying to deceive someone like Shizuru. The most (and best) I could do now was earn her respect. Or better yet, convince her I wasn't a threat at all.
"No," I told her. "You're right. I'm not what I seem."
"And this isn't the last I'll see of you, is it."
"Probably not."
"Interesting." But she spoke with eyes like a bored shark, so I wasn't sure if she meant it. My heart stuttered.
"Look—I don't mean any harm," I said. "It's just an educational book. No strings."
She stared. I stared back, with all the presence and iron will I'd developed in my other life. Really gave her the steeliest look I could muster at that young age. Still, I got the sense that my extra mental years—a number of which I'd spent in corporate boardrooms staring down men twice my age and six times my salary, with great success—were not enough to win me this contest of wills.
This was Shizuru, not some random teen. And Shizuru was a badass.
More of a badass than I'd ever been, in point of fact.
She had the eyes of a lion on the prowl, golden and prideful and observant and predatory. God, but holding still and maintaining eye contact with a surly teen was hard! I wanted to move, to fidget, but Shizuru's intense gaze held me fast. I feared what she'd think if I backed off and looked away. Just hold still, keep your eyes open, don't show fear, don't blink—
Just as my adolescent biology kicked in and made my child's feet start shuffling, Shizuru smirked. Her head dropped, eyes momentarily obscured by her short bristle of bangs. A wry chuckle had me flinching like she'd thrown a punch.
"No strings," she said. "Really."
"I mean what I say."
Her chin lifted. Shizuru looked less cold all of a sudden. Mostly confused, if anything. Her brow furrowed, and she looked older for it.
"Why do I believe that?" she murmured.
I started to reply. She ran a hand through her hair and stood up. She loomed tall even at this age.
"OK. Look. I've had a long day," she said. "Just…whatever you are, whoever you are, don't hurt my brother."
My jaw dropped. "I-I would never—"
Her eyes closed. Another chuckle, this one oddly warm. My protests died.
"For some reason," she said, "I believe that, too."
And with that, she turned. She lifted a hand over her shoulder as she walked away—effortlessly cool, like a winter wind with a sense of humor.
"See you later, then," Shizuru said. "Whenever that might be."
My reply came out like a whisper, wind struck from my sails by the typhoon of Shizuru's passing.
"Sure," I said. "See you."
The slide cast a shadow over where I stood. Nearby cherry blossoms filled the air with bright scent. From my secluded spot I saw Shizuru join her father and her brother, who showed Shizuru the book with eyes like excited fireflies. She took his hand, smiled, and guided her brother off the playground toward home. Their father followed with head thrown back in laughter. Apparently Kuwabara's enthusiasm tickled more fancies than just mine.
Kuwabara looked over his shoulder as his family walked away. I shrank into the shadows, not wanting to be seen—but somehow, despite the shade, Kuwabara's eyes found mine.
Over his shoulder, as Shizuru had before him, he lifted a hand.
A hand with the pinkie out.
Pinkie swear.
Without thinking, I lifted my own in return, and watched until his sunny, grateful grin vanished around a corner.
There was no telling when I'd see Kuwabara again.
But when I did, he was sure to be the same man he grew into in the anime: the kind who kept his promises, and never went back on his word.
Something told me that with or without my help, Kuwabara would turn out just fine.
[[NOTES: I LOVE KUWABARA SO MUCH, and it really doesn't make sense that he and Keiko weren't at least aware of each other prior to Yusuke's death. If Yusuke fought him all the damn time, and they were all going to the same school, how the heck would Keiko not know Kuwabara?!
Anyway.
Loved getting to write Shizuru. She'll have more to do later in this story, dontcha worry.
THANKS to reviewers! Life Dealer, the Water Drinker, and guest! Would love to hear from more of you next time.]]
