This chapter is rated R for swearrrrinnngg. Sentence Enchancers!
I Do NOT Own Yuyu Hakusho.
Kuwabara suddenly became aware of intense burning pain in his hands, and himself yelling. He put a stop to his straining voice as the room around him came into focus. He saw the source of his pain in a flat cooking pan lying upside down on the linoleum floor in front of him. During its fall several of the half baked cookies had fallen creating a trail to the over turned tray. Kuwabara gritted his teeth and shook his hands vigorously,
"Motherfucker, cocksucker!-"
"Woah, woah, woah! I've never heard you swear like that!"
Yuusuke was squatting in front of Kuwabara with a rather large bowl of what Kuwabara could only assume to be cold water, he immediately stuck his burning hands in.
"That was some pretty colorful language." Yuusuke eyed Kuwabara with one eyebrow high, "maybe next time you shouldn't try to grab a pan out of a 450 degree oven without a mit?" Kuwabara who was exhausted, emotionally and physically, snapped-
"Well, why the fuck are you over my house baking cookies?" Yuusuke looked completely exasperated,
"Dude, you asked me to! I never even did this girly Martha Stewart crap with Keiko! What are you, five, that you don't know not to reach into a hot oven! Jesus!"
Kuwabara said nothing as he nursed his hands, which were beginning to turn carmine red. The embarrassment from his outburst was usurped by his miserable attitude. If Yuusuke was here, then how much time had elapsed? When did Hiei leave? Did he ever even get to sleep? It didn't feel like it…
What bothered him the most was that he had not given any reason for his younger self to come forward. He had thought that by acting the part little Kuwabara wanted him to play, the doppelganger would eventually dissipate. No such luck.
"Urameshi, do you know where Hiei is?" Yuusuke stiffened at Hiei's name. For an instant he looked crestfallen, but he hid it quickly. He rose gathering paper towels to clean up the mess on the floor.
"How should I know?" He snapped. Then after a brief pause, "maybe you should find him, I'm sure he'd love to bake cookies with you," his voice was dripping with sarcasm. Then it hit Kuwabara like a slap in the face.
"I never even did this girly Martha Stewart crap with Keiko!" Urameshi was competing with Hiei for his attention. When did he become such a lothario?
"I'm sorry, Ura-Yuusuke. I'm just irritable because I haven't been sleeping well." At least it was half the truth. He would just have to wait until Hiei came back to find out if he had slept at all or not. He was deep in thought about how he was going to get Urameshi to tell him how long he had been here, when the young man's face was suddenly inches from his. He could smell Yuusuke's familiar scent. The rogue hairs that had escaped his hair gel were tickling Kuwabara's forehead; if he tried he could count the boy's eyelashes. Yuusuke smiled,
"It's fine. You've been really… cute lately. The things you say and do." Yuusuke leaned forward so that his nose was now brushing Kuwabara's.
"It's almost as if you're a different person- a happier person. I really like to see you happy, that's why I agree to this cookie bullshit," Kuwabara felt the corners of Yuusuke's mouth tug into a smile. Yuusuke pressed his slightly chapped lips to Kuwabara's briefly and sweetly. Kuwabara remained frozen accepting the kiss. Yuusuke laughed once nervously and looked downward in embarrassment. Shaking his head he said blushing,
"I'll never get used to kissing you." Kuwabara forced a comforting smile and changed the topic quickly.
"So what's on the agenda for today?" Yuusuke looked at him strangely.
"We're going to see your mom," he said slowly with his eyebrows furrowed. Kuwabara felt bile rise in throat.
"Cookies, a visit to my dead mother- my younger self must really be having a great time. Too bad they never found her body."
Kuwabara wiggled his fingers in the cool water, they pulsed painfully.
"… Maybe we could stay in instead? Rent a movie? Or take a nap…" he started nonchalantly. Yuusuke went over to the freezer and pulled out some ice cubes, he dropped them one by one into the bowl where Kuwabara was nursing his hands.
"Kazuma, you've been raving about this for days," He said searching Kuwabara's face, "why the sudden change of heart?"
"I'm just really tired, can you let it go?" Yuusuke leaned back against the kitchen sink with his arms folded over his chest. He sighed,
"I dunno you seemed so excited about it and I guess after a while I started to get excited to. I mean… isn't meeting someone's parents a huge step in a relationship?" Aha. This on top of him mentioning Hiei must have Urameshi feel like they were regressing.
"Well, the best lies are intertwined with truth,"
"Ura-Yuusuke, my mother passed away years ago, I was just talking about seeing her grave, but honestly I just really don't feel up to it." Yuusuke looked incredibly surprised.
"Oh! …. Wow. Well, the way you spoke about her I assumed she was… yanno." Kuwabara shook his head solemnly. His took his hands from out of the water and flicked away the excess droplets. Making his decision he rose and walked over to embrace Yuusuke.
"Listen, Yuusuke," he said with his chin resting on the top of his best friends head, "I want to be alone for a little while, … the thing about my mom has got me down a bit, I'm just gonna nap."
"Are you sure it's not about our fight before?" Shesh, he turned into a lothario and Yuusuke turned into a self conscious chick.
"No, it's not. Promise." Just for reassurance, Kuwabara swallowed his pride and morals to tilt Yuusuke's chin upward to kiss him. Kuwabara felt Yuusuke melt like putty against his chest. He deepened the kiss enjoying Yuusuke's reaction. When Kuwabara pulled away, still cupping Yuusuke's jaw in his hand, Yuusuke stood with his eyes still closed and breathing deeply. Yuusuke's eyes fluttered open, Kuwabara searched his face smiling. Yuusuke had it bad. His nonchalant misdemeanor had completely melted away leaving a bashful, giddy former version of himself. He laughed once nervously.
"Wow, uhm, you sure you don't want me to stay?" Kuwabara smiled and ushered Yuusuke towards the door.
"It's ok, I'll be fine. Thank you for the cookies." He closed the door gently. The second the barrier was up between himself and Yuusuke, Kuwabara fell to pieces. He slid with his back to the door on the linoleum, running his fingers through his hair. His hands protested bitterly at the sudden flexing, and Kuwabara hissed in pain. He had just used a kiss to manipulate his best friend, what was he doing? Who was this person he was becoming? At least both Yuusuke and Hiei were too worried about their own relationships with him and their competition with each other to notice just how different he was being; that it could almost be another person, that it was a different person. Although his sleep deprivation was making his kitchen floor as comfortable as the softest down mattress, he rose with a grunt to grab his jacket. He had to find Hiei.
LINE BREAK
Kuwabara had been strolling mindlessly through the city. Although on a conscious level he had absolutely no idea where to find Hiei for some reason, he knew exactly where to go. He recalled having the memory of Yuusuke coming to his door asking for his love. His younger self had been present for that occasion and yet he had access to the memory- it must work the same way for him, which explains why the little shit so cleverly fooled everyone into believing he was the older Kuwabara.
"He had picked my actions, quirks, and mannerisms as if out of a card catalogue. "
He finally found himself at the edge of a quaint park; it didn't surprise him at all. Where else would Hiei stay in a congested city? He had been walking for a good two or three hours and dusk was approaching. All the temporary inhabitants of the park would be leaving to turn in for the night, except for the one.
Kuwabara strolled through the perfectly manicured grass. He briefly glanced at the park benches longingly- if he could just sit for one minute- but no, if he fell asleep he didn't know the next time he'd wake up. He hoped Hiei would notice his energy.
As soon as the thought had finished Kuwabara heard a gentle baritone behind him,
"Kazuma." Hiei was without his cloak; his muscular arms were perfectly exposed by his cut off sleeves. He gave Kuwabara a bemused look, "You've come looking for me."
Kuwabara couldn't even stand still-he was afraid his legs would give out. He beckoned at Hiei,
"I wanted to ask you something- walk with me?" Hiei nodded once, and followed Kuwabara through the cusp of trees.
"Do you remember the day that I asked you to watch me sleep?" Hiei nodded again, "Did I ever actually sleep?" Again Hiei looked bemused.
"Why are you asking me this now?"
"What do you mean?"
"I assumed you had forgotten about it, it's been two weeks." Kuwabara almost fell to the ground.
"Two weeks, two weeks?" he muttered in exasperation. Hiei's eyes narrowed,
"Kazuma, what's going on?" Kuwabara put his face in his hands and rubbed feeling back into his skin.
"Hiei listen, I know you care about me and to be honest I'm about two seconds from loosing it," Hiei didn't know exactly what that ningen expression meant, but from Kazuma's restless movements he caught the drift of it. "I need you to tell me everything that has happened from the moment I laid down after we were in the tub until now." Hiei complied if only because of the desperation of Kuwabara's voice.
"You fell asleep the very second you laid your head upon the pillow," Kuwabara almost audibly sighed in relief, "But, you were awake in less than an hour. " Hiei smirked, "you were incredibly affectionate when you woke up, I tried to get you to go back to sleep. When I began resisting your affections, you became more adamant… trying different means to prevent me from getting you to sleep."
Kuwabara felt a blush creep across his cheeks, "Did I ever actually sleep?" Hiei's expression was blank. "Yes. Eventually I got you to, and I've been making sure you sleep every night since- most of the time you are very difficult and waste the entire eight hours protesting."
This kid was taking over his life. He was making him do things he would have never done. He was fucking his best friends to make them happy, but loosing himself in the process. He didn't have a job, and was probably going to be kicked out of his apartment. His younger self's cure for insanity was ironically precipitating it. He was furious, unsettled, exhausted.
"Now are you going to tell me what's going on?" But Kuwabara didn't hear a word he said. Over Hiei's shoulder he saw flaming red hair, and an anger boiled in him like he never knew.
Uhoh! Chibi-bara showed up! Internal battles gone external? Don't forget Hiei's still standing there! Hope you guys are enjoying this now that I stopped equivocating and got down to some business!
Less than three TM29