Surprise! You're getting two shorts today since I fell behind a day last week due to the LC update. And as an added bonus, this is basically two shorts in one, anyway, so you're basically getting three total in one day. Hurrah!

Day 09: "Lego"

Like so many times before, Yusuke and I spent the afternoon at a café, just watching people go by on the sidewalk beyond the restaurant's crystalline front window. Yusuke sat with chin upon hand, idly stirring a mug of black coffee (which he wouldn't actually drink; he preferred it sweetened, but damned if he'd let his image suffer over a pack of sugar). Meanwhile, I sipped tea and nibbled a scone, content with reading a textbook and people-watching in turns. Neither of us bothered to talk. We didn't see the need to fill the silence. While technically this meeting had been mandated by Spirit World, it's what we would've spent that Sunday afternoon doing, anyway. Even before I wound up on Koenma's Special Shit List and Yusuke became my parole officer (or whatever he was supposed to be), when we had nothing better to do, we often explored local cafés and cutesy eateries—ones Yusuke had likely always thought looked tasty, but ones he'd never visit without taking me along as an excuse.

Again: Image. Yusuke was conscious of his, if his carefully slick hairstyle wasn't already enough of a giveaway on that subject.

That day, like all the others, we were quiet. The café was mostly empty, too, caught in the lull between the lunch and dinner hours. I loosed a contented sigh as I slumped in my chair, springtime sunshine filtering through the window's lacy curtains tickling my skin. In spite of me best efforts, my eyes felt heavy, head nodding as lazy, languid lethargy attempted to lure me into a nap. I'd been feeling overstretched lately, truth be told, and a nap in the sunshine sounded—

Yusuke's chin lifted off his hand; he turned his face to me with a start, eyes as round as the cookie sitting on the saucer at his elbow. Sleep abandoned me at once, mild alarm rising in its place.

"Oh," said Yusuke, staring at me. "Oh. I get it now."

"What?" I said, heart beating a frantic tattoo against my ribs. "What is it?"

"So that's why you were never into Legos as a child." He appeared mildly scandalized by this random realization. "You were never a child in the first place! And what kid doesn't like Legos?"

Slowly, carefully, I set aside my textbook. Crossed my arms over my chest. Stared at him in abject disbelief.

"This," I said, "is what you spend your time thinking about?"

Yusuke shrugged.

We stared at each other.

I picked up my book again.

Yusuke pillowed his chin on his hand, and silence descended once more.

The following day at school, Kurama, Kaito and I spent our lunch hour in the stairwell talking about literature—well. Kaito spent the hour talking about literature, to be precise. Kurama and I mostly just listened while he waxed poetical on his woes regarding the paucity of publications he could choose from when submitting his next paper on his favorite novel. We provided polite (and occasionally colorful) commentary where we could, letting him do the bulk of the talking, and when the bell rang, we hung back as Kaito strode ahead of us down the stairs to the school's lower floors.

"How do you suppose he'll react," Kurama muttered in my ear when Kaito pulled away by a sufficient distance, "if he learns you come from a world where literature is valued more highly than it is here?"

"He'll kill me in a fit of jealous pique, I imagine," I muttered back out of the corner of my mouth.

"Surely not." Kurama's eyes glittered in a silent laugh. "Nerds aren't typically prone to violence, as I understand it."

"You underestimate him. He's vicious, that one, especially when it's literature on the line."

"In that case, I believe I'm looking forward to the day he learns your secret." Kurama gave an appreciative hum. "The ensuing battle of wills is sure to be a sight to behold."

"Sadist." I bit back a grin. "Also, Yusuke was wrong. I do have a use for Legos."

"Hmm?"

Rounding on him, I leveled a finger at Kurama's face and declared, "Go step on a Lego, Minamino-san."

Green eyes widened as full lips parted, Kurama's toned-down and subtle version of a dropped jaw. Before he could ask what the heck I'd just said or comment on the taunting nature of the honorific I'd used, I flounced away, but not before shooting him a satisfied smirk—one which only grew when I heard his soft, smooth voice drift down the stairwell at my back.

"What on earth…?" Kurama said, but I didn't bother to clue him in.

Let the smarmy bastard suffer, ran my thinking.

Two could play at the sadism game, and I gave just as good as I got.

I didn't really have anything creative for this one ("lego," of all things!), so I defaulted to "Yusuke makes an observation about Keiko's childhood" and "Keiko lobs one of my personal favorite insults at someone who isn't expecting it" as topics. Yes, these are topics I defaulted to in pervious collections. No, I will never tire of either them. Hope you enjoyed! I confess I thought of the shorts separately and then realized at the last minute that they could be conjoined; small miracles, I guess.

Many thanks to these fine folks for commenting on chapter 8: KhasleesiRenee, ladyofchaos, Anonymouse, Kaiya Azure, cestlavie and a guest.