When Ran and Kuwabara made it to Kuwabara's apartment, Ran gave him her whole life story through a whole lot of tears. Not only that, she was stress baking. Kuwabara's kitchen counters were getting increasingly flooded with macaroons stacked on top of each other.
Kuwabara attempted to eat some as she talked but only managed to eat a handful.
At some point, Ran got tired as she reached the point in her life where she was currently. "While everyone is happy and lives their lives..." With every word she took a step towards him, backing him up into the couch. "And I'm miserable!" She threw her hands around his waist and they both fell onto the couch.
Kuwabara gently placed his hands onto Ran's waist as well, but only to keep a nice distance between their pelvises from touching.
"I'm uh," he cleared his throat. "Sorry to hear all that." And it was a lot, he thought. She talked his poor ears off. To be frank, he didn't know what to say.
Ran sulked. Her rosy cheeks sagged as she frowned. Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes, threatening to pour out once again. Her lip was quivering.
"No wait!" Kuwabara urged. "Don't cry!"
Too late. Ran was bawling again, soaking up Kuwabara's shirt with her tears.
"Um..." Kuwabara lifted one of his hands on her waist and began patting her back. "There there. It's just a bad breakup. Like they say, plenty of fish in the sea."
"Waaaaah he loved fish pastries!"
Kuwabara inwardly sighed. "Oh boy..." Rather than say anything else, he just comforted her by continuing to pat her back until she fell asleep on top of him. Now he was trapped. Panic pricked at his skin. What was he supposed to do now?
Kuwabara lay there with her on him for half an hour until exhaustion took him over and put him to sleep.
A few more hours had passed when Shizuru had arrived. She sniffed the air. "What's that smell? Smells... sweet." Shizuru shuffled with her things inside the apartment when she stopped in her tracks. "Oh my— Kazuma!"
"Huh?!" Kuwabara bolted straight into the waking world, stirring Ran from her sleep. "Sis! It's not what it looks like!"
Shizuru's eyes were wide. "Isn't it?"
Kuwabara was shouting. "I barely know her!"
"That's not better Kazuma!"
"Wait no—" Kuwabara scratched his head. "Let me explain... she's Lady Kurama's friend. I ran into her at the park today."
"I wasn't aware that you two were," Shizuru eyed them. "Close."
Ran sat up and scooted towards the other end of the couch. "I just fell asleep on him," she batted her eyelashes innocently. "Honest. My name is Ran, nice to meet you once again."
Shizuru chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "Aren't you the one whose boyfriend turned into a Kaiju at the bachelor party?"
Kuwabara facepalmed. "Sis..."
"He wasn't my boyfriend at the time... but yes," Ran admitted. She shied away and slumped her shoulders.
"Wasn't he also asking about a Lum?"
Kuwabara stood up. "Shizuru!"
Shizuru shrugged and walked towards the kitchen. "I'm just saying, been there, done that. You gotta pay attention to the red flags girl." Her eyes darted around. "What's with all the macaroons?"
Ran laughed sheepishly. "I made them."
Shizuru's jaw dropped. "This can feed an army! Where are we going to put all these? The pantry can't take it."
Ran got up and walked over. "I'll take them back—"
"Wait, you're leaving now?" Kuwabara had asked her. After all the time they spent together it was a little odd seeing her go. He wanted to make sure she was in the right mental state to leave.
Ran nodded slowly and began packing away the macaroons into a portable container she pulled out of her sweater. Almost magically they were teleported back onto her ship when they went inside the container.
"Hold on," Kuwabara walked over to her and grabbed her arm gently to stop her. "I want to keep some of those. May I?"
Ran looked up at him, her eyes dry from all the tears she wept. "I'll leave a tray."
"Let me walk you." Kuwabara offered. He was stalling.
"I have a spaceship."
"Let me walk you to that then. You'll never know what's out there in this time of night." He was looking at her full of concern.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about me." Humor returned to her face. Ran reached down from under her dress and Kuwabara's face turned beet red. From underneath Ran pulls out a bazooka. "I'm armed," she said.
"I—"
Both Kuwabara and Shizuru were staring at her.
"I'm sorry to any punk who dare cross you." Kuwabara murmured.
Ran let out a giggle and turned to leave. "I'll see you, Mister Kuwabara. You too miss Kuwabara."
"Seeya." Shizuru gave out a mock salute.
And just like that, Ran was gone.
Kuwabara had his eyes trained on the door, even after it closed. "See me later?" he echoed all too late. "I didn't get... her number."
Shizuru scrunched up her nose. "Oo, bad luck bro. Don't tell me you're interested in her?"
Kuwabara shook his head. "I'm just worried about her. With Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei gone I just... I feel like I have to use my energy to help people. You should've seen her sis, she was crying rivers. Oceans, even."
A soft smile played on Shizuru's lips. "My brother, the hero. No problem too small, huh? Gone from saving the world to saving girls from the park." She then shrugged. "Besides, her hair isn't the right hue."
Kuwabara furrowed his brows. "Huh?"
"It's pink. Her hair," she told him. "Not blue."
He looked further confused.
"Yukina? Botan?"
"Oh!"
"What happened with Yukina anyway?" Shizuru set her things on the floor and picked up a macaroon from the counter. She took a bite out of it, savoring the flavor. Wow, these had to be the best macaroons she ever tasted. In fact, they were the only macaroons she's ever tasted.
"Um, well—" Kuwabara drew in a breath. "I don't think Yukina ever saw me the way I saw her." If anything she probably saw him as a brother. It took being in high school for Kuwabara to realize that. He didn't date much in high school as he still held out for Yukina, but hindsight told him he missed out on some worthwhile relationships.
"Welp," Shizuru stood next to Kuwabara, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's like they say," she began. "Plenty of fish in the sea."