Shizuru had moved out a few years ago, to an apartment closer to the city and this year she's spending her day off at her home, with her girlfriend. Their dad even tried the 'bring her! We love Hitomi-chan!' but Shizuru had laughed over the phone. She loves them, but, not every single chance to go home is something she needs to take.
Then, Yukina had moved away, as well: the Temple and lands Genkai had left them all upon her death had been in need of a permanent resident for near four years now. Human world legality and taxes, While Jin and a few other youkai had lived there off-and-on a while, none employment in the Human world, none had ever paid taxes even in Makai and none possessed legal Sarayashiki citizenship.
Which, due to Kurama putting in a bit of legwork, and much more forgery, Yukina now did.
Yukina loves the temple, the lands, all its' various semi-regular inhabitants, and it turned out that Yukina had quite a knack for numbers: while there was much she was still learning, Yukina was turning into quite a competent sort of manager of the lands. Kuwabara had last seen her a month ago, if not more! She was very happy, very busy, and he missed her presence in the house very much...
The last three years have been kind of silent and lonely, for Kuwabara. He's always had Shizuru around, and ah! The loss of Yukina's all delightful presence—!
At least Kuwabara isn't totally alone, today.
Urameshi Yuusuke has made himself overly comfortable on the hardwood floor. A magazine held above his face as he reads, he has both legs crooked at the knee so his bare feet rest heels first on a coffee table that's older than them both.
"How many times do I gotta tell you, feet down?" Kuwabara asks, from where he's sitting on the couch, lap full of Eikichi. "You don't even got socks on, man..."
"And how many times has your dad said 'Yuusuke-kun can make himself at home?" Yuusuke laughs from behind the magazine he's reading. While he's not wearing socks, for whatever reason, Kuwabara can tell Yuusuke's wearing one of the tees he likes best, the shorts he is most comfortable in. The 'made himself at home' outfit.
Kuwabara scoffs at Yuusuke, laying back so Eikichi is napping against his chest. There's a moment filled with only a jingle from a commercial on the T.V. "I gotta start online correspondence courses next month. Pops is gonna get internet for the house, and Kurama got me a computer from his step-dad's workplace to use."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. They were getting tossed or something? If this works out, then I could pick up some kinda between hours work. Or temp stuff."
Yuusuke snickers and rests one heel against his other knee, sort of swinging his legs while still heel first on the coffee table. "Kuwabara doin' construction work this summer, huh?"
"I hope not, maybe Kurama can get me some kinda paperwork thing at his place."
"That's even better. You, in a suit and tie, commuting to work instead of school."
"Haw-haw, shut up. The weather is on." The air conditioner whirs down, leaving the air cool enough his skin is gooseflesh, except the side of his body that is nearest to Yuusuke. It isn't his body-heat, it's his youki.
One time, when he was little, Kuwabara accidentally pulled open one of the iron-and-salt packets his dad kept in his coat. It had been like summer-day-warm-sidewalk on his palm, chased by his dad brushing it off his little hand, holding Kuwabara's fingers apart to make sure it was all gone.
Almost hot but not hot. Prickles. The way one can imagine a hot beach, when the temps outside are in the negatives: a memory of the summer sun heated beaches, when you can't remember exactly how hot those sands got.
Yuusuke's youki feels like that, these days. Warm, and forgetting that it has the promise of being painful, or dangerous. Kind of like a cat. Right now, Kuwabara's entire left side feels like that, such a contrast with the artificially cooled air of the living room.
"Hey. Do you know what it's called, when you forget a drink in the freezer and at first, it doesn't look frozen. Then you move it, and it suddenly turns into slush?"
"I... Huh??" Kuwabara snaps his head up, snorting, he'd almost nodded off with his precious cat as a blanket. "What??"
"You know! If you put an open Calpis in the freezer and then try to drink the liquid, it's frozen when it comes out." Yuusuke explains, peeking from behind his magazine.
"Oh! That's super-cooling. It's somethin' to do with the molecules of water reachin' a state of rest that doesn't form ice crystals?" Kuwabara purses his lips, thinking. "I sorta paid attention to a chemistry lesson."
"You sorta paid attention? That word sounds like you just made it up." Yuusuke's brows pinch, and he scoffs, returning to his reading.
"Every word is made up, Urameshi! That's how words work." Eikichi wakes up fully at this, leaping off of Kuwabara with a small, disgruntled hiss. "No! Baby, don't leave..."
The seven year old cat disappears out of the living room, as Kuwabara sits up to try and grab the magazine out of Yuusuke's hands. "Why're-you-asking?" He gives the cheap thing a tug with every word, but, it doesn't budge. Even though Yuusuke is only holding it between his thumb and forefinger.
"I wanna know, is why."
Yuusuke releases his hold, so Kuwabara ends up rocking back on the couch due to his own force and sits up beside the coffee table, snatching his magazine from Kuwabara's hand, smoothes the edges of the pages. "Don't manhandle my shit. I should hunt down Kurama, and ask him."
Kuwabara watches Yuusuke stand up, heading towards the entrance-way of the Kuwabara family home, to shuffle his feet into his worn out sneakers. "What? I told you what it is. You're supposed to have dinner with my pops!"
Yuusuke rolls his eyes, head lolling alongside the expression. "You're coming with me. Hurry it up."
The overcast sky begins opening up, misting the city in a fog. Sticking hair to faces, clothing to skin, salt on upper lips.
Although not as many people out on the streets due to the weather, Sarayashiki is still busy. There are small groups of kids here and there, off from school for the holiday. People go about wrapped in raincoats or thin, disposable ponchos, while others duck under umbrellas.
"We could have just called Kurama! Pops keeps the air con so low, and we'd be dry." Kuwabara grumbles, sneakers squishing uncomfortably around his toes. He had taken an umbrella with them but, the rain is too fine and too wind blown, accumulating on the underside of the it and drip on his head with every other step.
"You know he might not pick up. It's a Holiday? Time for mommy," Yuusuke isn't even trying to mitigate the rain, his hair starting to come free of his usual shellac of gel. "Kurama can't say 'no' if we're right there, after all!" The grin he wears crinkles his eyes about shut. The tooth baring, genuine type Yuusuke's got. The kind that shows off his fangs, these days.
The type that makes his dimples pop out and hit somebody like a bullet.
"That's the dumbest thing you've said in a while." Then again, he's the one who followed after Yuusuke in this weather, for no reason. "Come on, Urameshi. We could call Yukimura! She's smart as hell! And she always picks up for you."
"I ain't botherin' Keiko on her day off."
"So not Keiko, but Kurama? Sure!" Kuwabara barks a laugh that draws a few glances, and makes Yuusuke wince. He squares his shoulders, giving Yuusuke a sidelong glance over his upturned nose. "Why are you so keyed up about this?"
"Maybe I'm bored!" Yuusuke chuckles, using the hem of his tee to wipe his face. Seeing as it's already soaked, a fruitless endevor. His undershirt, too.
"We could have played a video game, if you're bored...I just got a Neo Geo Pocket Color!"
"All you have to play on that is a stupid baseball game."
"It's not stupid, it's fun." His own shirt feels two sizes too small, stuck up his armpits and Kuwabara is thinking about the tea in his dad's fridge. The cubed ice in the freezer...Those expensive tiny ice creams Shizuru keeps at home that he totally hasn't been stealing because she barely visits home... His stomach flips at the thought, like he's got stomach acid.
No, not that. Kuwabara can't even place this, familiar but unfamiliar sort of pulling at his liver-but-not sort of sensation—
The crosswalk chimes in that 'it's time to move' way, while the mist is turning into a proper rain. Yuusuke does a quick step behind him and Kuwabara feels two overly warm palms pressed perpendicular against his back; one against his shoulder, one against the side of his waist.
"Maybe this is like a game, fer me."
Kuwabara feels like a rag-doll for a moment, his toes almost leaving the asphalt as Yuusuke 'helps' him cross the road by half lifting, half pushing Kuwabara. "H-hey! Urameshi! Lemme go!"
"Come on, you're gonna wilt like a six-foot tall flower if we keep chattin' in this heat. Pick those feet up, man! Lift those knees! We're gonna miss the train!"
The ride feels longer than it is, fifteen minutes into eternity when his socks are starting to stick up between his toes. Swamps the shape of shoes making his life hell, while Yuusuke spends the ride trying and failing to get his hair to stay out of his eyes. "You better try and stay under the umbrella, this time."
"It's only five minutes from the station, you absolutely gigantic baby. I'm already soaked, it doesn't matter."
Another eternity later, and Kuwabara's stomach is growling as Yuusuke raises one hand to give the knocker a clack, but, the door opens before he can even touch it.
When Kurama opens his mother's front door, the air comes out in a cold wave that makes Kuwabara sigh heavily. Unlike the two of them, Kurama is pristine as usual; linen short sleeve that looks like it's been ironed and a pair of slacks so crisp they look like they could cut you.
"Kuwabara-kun, what a surprise!" Kurama says, with no surprise at all. "Yuusuke... You are both drenched, please, come inside but stay on the tile. I'll grab a towel." Kurama points at their feet with both hands as he steps away, as if a warning.
"Shuuichi? Who is it?" A soft voice calls from inside the house.
"It is just-"
"Hey, Minamino-san! It's me!" Kuwabara cuts Kurama off, waves one arm past the entrance-way, his reach long enough that Shiori can see his hand as she approaches from the kitchen. "Urameshi, too! Sorry to intrude."
"Oh! Goodness, did you two get surprised by the weather?" Shiori hardly looks a day older than when Kuwabara first met her. Wearing a pink and white striped apron that covers her sleeves and compliments the entire color-coordinated living room, she smells like bread and lilies.
Kuwabara is suddenly overly aware how much he must absolutely reek, right now.
"No." Another dimple popping smile out of Yuusuke, while his shirt drips on the tiled floor. "I didn't wanna go by the bath-house tonight. I promise we won't get your floors wet! We won't take long either, just got a question for Shuuichi."
"One that could not be communicated by phone call?" Kurama reappears with two towels, handing one to each Yuusuke and Kuwabara while Shiori steps away. "Mother, I will see them off again."
Shiori nods, although she still takes a moment to give Kuwabara a gentle pat on one forearm. "If I were not busy, I would chat! We're having a pizza dinner, from scratch! I'll see you next Sunday as planned, Kuwa-chan."
"Yeah, you bet! I'll see you later, ma'am!" Kuwabara nods like his head is on a spring.
They all smile as Shiori leaves the living room, the sound of her slippers fading into the kitchen, then Kurama shakes his head, once."Really, you two look awful. Kuwabara-kun, you are beet red! Is the heat that oppressive?"
"Um, y-yeah. Anyways, this dipshit's been all geared up about super-cooling. He said I made up the word!"
Kurama crosses his arms, while Yuusuke elbows Kuwabara in the side. "Yes, that is how words are created. Why would you doubt Kuwabara-kun knowing that. How was this worth a walk, than a call?"
"I didn't want to wait around, in case you didn't pick up." Yuusuke winks.
"By super-cooling, do you mean the process of a liquid cooling below its freezing point without solidification?"
"Does that mean if I pour out a Calpis water that was in the freezer, and it didn't look frozen but then freezes?"
"...Yes. It can also be called undercooling, I believe. Why?"
"Well...It happened to my arm." Yuusuke fusses at his hair with the towel. "A few days ago, I went to visit Puu out at the Temple—"
"Puu froze your arm!?"
"No? Idiot, Yukina did!" Yuusuke looks from Kurama to Kuwabara and back, rubbing his arms and stomach as dry as he can with wet clothes. "Listen, I know this sounds strange even for us but, I think she did that slush thing to me without meaning to?"
"How did this occur?" Kurama's countenance has changed from slightly distracted to interested focus. The interest he's feeling visible on his face, gaze like a green laser pointer.
"Okay, so, you know that one big south facing hill that's got some wood rot on?"
"Yes. I helped mark the ones that must be disposed of."
"All those trees got to get cut down soon anyways, right? So I was just having some fun. I was... " Yuusuke, of all people, looks a bit bashful. His eyelashes are somehow five times as long when he looks this way, Kuwabara thinks.
"What was that, Yuusuke? You spoke too softly." Kurama quips, tilting his head to angle one ear at Yuusuke.
"I was playing Kamen Rider, okay?? I hit a tree with bad form, went right into the ground and dislocated my pinky. Yukina saw me trying to set it back into place, and helped. She tried to do that thing with her youki and heal me."
Yuusuke raises his right hand, rotating his wrist to show both Kuwabara and Kurama a perfectly normal looking hand. "After I left, it started hurting so bad. My fingers went purple and all that, I just sort of...Moved my hand until my sensation came back."
"Urameshi, why the fuck didn't you lead with this??" Kuwabara is talking in whisper, shoulders hunched.
Kurama raises his hands, silencing them both. "Have you even discussed this with Yukina-san herself, Yuusuke?" His face is stern.
"No! I dunno, okay? It hurt. I felt like I was dying." Yuusuke pauses, a pensive look softening the lines of his brows. "If I said 'Hey, you made my core feel like it was gonna stop' right to her face, Yukina would be really fuckin' sad."
Kurama closes his eyes for a moment, the visual equivalent of a sigh. "Yuusuke, I believe that she would also prefer to know she had somehow super-cooled your blood in a postponed manner."
"I get it, I get it—" Yuusuke groans over being lectured. "Can you finger-wag later?"
"Yes. My step-father and brother will be home any moment, please go home. I will call you in the evening."
"Shouldn't we go check on Yukina-san now? My stomach's got a sour feeling."
Kurama gives Kuwabara a quick touch on his forearm. "Kazuma. You are simply hungry and worried. I promise, we will speak together later." He stresses the 'later'.
"Okay." Kuwabara sighs, wiping down his umbrella, handing the borrowed towel back to Kurama. "Okay, yeah, it's fine. Tell your momma bye for me, and that she looks really nice, and sorry we got her entrance-way all wet."
The short walk from the Minamino household to the station feels even longer. Kuwabara is dragging his feet, umbrella held low enough, the tines of the umbrella are pressing into his hair. His mood matches the weather, grey and damp.
"Come on, man, say something. Why are you sulking?" Yuusuke asks after a handful of minutes filled with only the sound of the city and Kuwabara's sneakers shuffling the sidewalk.
"You didn't tell me anything happened. About Yukina-san. Why not?" Kuwabara asks his soaking wet friend, still staring at his own feet. "You've been over my place every day this week."
"Huh? I mean…" Yuusuke scoffs and pauses, a few people stepping around them. "It was no big deal?"
"It's no big deal?" Kuwabara whips his head up from his morose literal shoe-gazing, staring at Yuusuke, agape. "It's a huge deal! Not that you felt like you were dyin'? What if somethin' had happened?"
Yuusuke has both hands covering his face like a visor now, the rain pouring down. "I would've run to Kurama, or something? Why're you getting so bothered about it? I won't die that easy!" He laughs the last few words hard enough his chest and belly jiggle a little.
The combination of his stomachache and Yuusuke's derisive laughter… He doesn't have the words to even express to himself. Between his lungs feels full of sea-foam all the sudden; the past all agitated, memories of blood and fear emulsified into a physical sensation that will dissolve if he touches it.
So, he just gives Yuusuke a push on the shoulder and huffs a breath. "That ain't funny. Come on, I don't wanna be late for startin' dinner with pops." Kuwabara adjusts the umbrella against his shoulder without looking back, double-stepping towards the train station.