Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Happiness is... ❯ Happiness is... Simply Talking ( Chapter 3 )

Happiness is... Simply Talking

Keiko collapsed into one of the secluded booths at the back of the Yukimura Noodle Shop. 'Thank goodness for coffee breaks,' she thought, pillowing her head on her arms on the tabletop.

She sat that way for a few minutes, just relaxing after the rush hour they had just experienced earlier. It was during this time that her mind turned back to the strange incident that had occurred while on her way to work.

Black tunic rippling in the wind, the flying shadow bars her way, and studies her impassively with probing, red eyes.

'It was like being in some weird, surreal dream.... And he was an alien inspector from another world, telepathically reading my brain to see if I was fit to marry his race's martian King, or something...'

"Oh my, I've been watching too much anime lately," the girl said outloud.

"Are you happy?"

'That question was so serious. What does it mean to him, that I should be happy? We've never even talked before.'

Keiko shook her head, it was hopeless to even think she could possibly figure out someone as complex as Hiei. Despite giving up, Keiko could not dispell the niggling voice in the back of her head.

"Well, he asked a good question.... Are you happy?"

She had told him 'yes'.

"Liar," he had responded.

But he was the liar, right? Why wouldn't she be happy? Sure, life after the breakup with Yusuke had been hard, but she had her friends, her family, the noodle shop...

"Break time was over two minutes ago! Back to work, everyone!" shouted the new manager her parents had hired, ever mindful of his workers' laziness, and more than dedicated to saving the shop from Inefficieny's Horrors: Including, but not limited to, The Inefficiency of Putting Too Much Noodle In The Dishes, The Inefficientcy of Prolonged Boiling, The Inefficiency of Talking, The Inefficiency of Idleness, The Ineff--

Then again...

Sighing dejectedly, Keiko rose from her booth, bracing herself for yet another grilling day of work.

~*~

Kurama straightened from his desk, which he had been sitting behind for the past few hours. Raising his arms above his head, the red head stretched his cramped muscles as he craned his neck in order to see the clock on the far wall.

11:45

'Lunch hour,' he thought idly. 'Wonder where I could go to get a quick bite?'

Rising from the desk, Kurama reached for his jacket which was draped on the back of his chair. He reached inside the top drawer of his desk, withdrawing a set of keys and making his way to the front entrance of the flower boutique, which his stepfather owned. He pulled the inner shade down, turned over the 'Out to Lunch' sign in the window, and exited through the front door. Turning around, he set about locking up the store for the next hour until he sensed something which caused him to pause, a smirk coming to his lips.

"Well, hello again, Hiei." Kurama greeted his fire apparition friend without even turning around.

"Fox," the fire demon acknowledged.

Finishing up with the lock, Kurama finally turned around, placing the keys in his pocket in the process. "Something I can help you with, Hiei? Perhaps you'd like to buy some flowers?" The amusement was evident in Kurama's voice.

::snort:: "hn... Actually, Yusuke sent me here."

"Oh... so, Yusuke's the one wanting flowers?"

"Perhaps the seeds in your hair have sprouted their away into your head? No. He just wants to talk about something."

Kurama frowned, "Could it perhaps wait? I was just on my way to lunch, and I only have..." he looked at his watch, "...fifty minutes, and I have yet to decide on where to go."

"He wants to meet us at the Yukimura Noodle shop," Hiei said, pretending he hadn't heard.

"Oh," Kurama smiled, "Well, that solves my little problem then, doesn't it. Very well, I'll be just a second."

Saying nothing, Hiei crossed his arms, and leaned against the the shop's brick wall with an expression of studied patience.

When Kurama had his jacket on and was ready, he turned to the dark haired demon. "Let's go then, shall we?"

~*~

You're total is 200 yen, enjoy your noodles, sir." Keiko said, as she accepted the money from her 50th customer, feeling her obligatory polite smile starting to crack at the edges.

It seemed that rush hour hadn't ended after all. It had instead went on temporary hiatus, which must have ended because there was now a swarm of customers converging on the Yukimura Noodle Shop en masse.

And now they milled about impatiently in front the newly renovated counter.

"Hey, I ordered no sugar in my tea..."

"--little boys have grown so big, Yuki...."

"Where's the soy sauce?"

"--telling you, they didn't mean to call you 'chibi,' but you have to understand..."

"Oi! whoever you kids are! This is employees only..."

"You can't just bite people like that, no matter what they say..."

"No, Ida-chan, you're too young for Wasabi..."

'There must be some unofficial holiday for the kids...'

"Welcome to Yukimura Noodle, May I take your order?"

"Hai, An extra, extra large order of udon special, sans the cabbage..."

'It's been like this ever since Mom and Dad retired. Ever since they hired that new manager... And those renovations...' But ironically enough, she was the one suggested them!

"...carrots, not the thinly sliced kind, medium chunks... and uh, some celery..."

Now with the threat of foreclosure, Keiko had the added burden of guilt laying on her narrow shoulders. Now it seemed like was she taking orders, even in her sleep.

"...but fresh celery. With small stalks too, and oh, do you have mustard? I hear noddles taste good with mustard, and strawberries too.... That'll be all."

"Thank you for dining with us, come again."

'The same.'

"Welcome to Yukimura Noodle, may I take your order?" Keiko didn't bother looking up, too busy taking down her last customer's order.

'Everything.. is the same. Nothing changes...'

"Hai, I'd like two lunch specials of chicken ramen, please."

"That's two chicken ramen lunch specials. Is there anything else I can get you?"

"Hm, actually, change that to melon ramen, if you please..."

It had gotten to where she didn't even have to look up.

"Alright, that's one mel- uh, wait, we don't have that." Her brow furrowing, Keiko raised her head.

"Hello, there, Keiko-chan."

Brown eyes widening in surprise met amusement filled green. "Oh, hello, Kurama." A smile appeared at seeing a friendly face at such a hectic moment.

A bell rang, signaling the beginning of Keiko's lunch hour. Kurama blinked as the girl took off her apron, and walked over to the customer side of the shop. Her smile seemed more relieved now, and he could see there had been strain under that smile.

Keiko returned with the two specials Kurama had ordered, setting them down on the counter. "There you go," she said, "Is there anything else I can get you before I go on my lunch break?"

"Would it be too much to ask if you join me for the remainder of my lunch break?" The words left Kurama's mouth before he even knew what he was going to say. "Err.. I mean, join Hiei and I..."

Keiko looked at Kurama, an eyebrow raised questioningly at him, making the red head wonder what he'd said. He glanced to his right, intending on catching Hiei's attention in silent inquiry. His eyes drifted closed in comprehension when he realized that Hiei was nowhere in sight.

"Actually, I ordered the two noodles for Hiei and myself, but..." Kurama eyed the fire demon, who had somehow appeared in a shadowy corner of the shop, glaring. "It seems Hiei doesn't like them... so, its on me."

"Thank you," Keiko replied, her strained smile from earlier lightening into a more easy going one.

Kurama nodded, returning the smile, and picked up the two bowls and carried them to a booth near the back of the crowded Noodle House. He waited for Keiko to sit first before placing the bowls on the table; one in front of her and the other on the opposite side. He then took the seat across from her.

"So, what made you decide to take your lunch break here of all places?" 'We don't exactly have much in common.'

"Actually, I'm waiting on Yusuke. Apparently, he wants to see Hiei and I. You wouldn't happen to know why he called us here, would you? Yusuke's not one for prearranged meetings." Kurama said.

Keiko shook her head, "No, I don't see much of Yusuke anymore, so I wouldn't know. In fact, we broke up awhile ago."

"Is that so?" 'What is this strange feeling... I'm not that upset for Yusuke... I feel all warm inside....' He shook his head, and tried to lighten the atmosphere. "Ah, well, at least you won't have to suffer the stolen movie tickets, again!"

Keiko chucked, "Yeah, well, that's Yusuke for you... I'm sure he meant well, though. How have you been doing, Kurama? I haven't seen that much of you guys since... well, in awhile."

"We haven't seen each other much, have we? I believe Hiei was telling me that he, Kuwabara, and Yusuke all went to celebrate Spring at Genkai's temple. Funniest thing. He refused to tell me what happened there."

"Why didn't you join them, Kurama?" Keiko asked curiously.

"My excuse is 'work eats too much of my time', but actually," He leaned over the table to whisper in her ear, making her shiver involuntarily, "I stay away from alcohol, it tends to... make me lose control."

"Uh," Keiko was caught off guard by Kurama's response. It seemed a bit... playful, if not down right flirtatious. The thought that Kurama might be flirting with her caused a slight blush to tinge her cheeks.

'I shouldn't tease her.... but its cute when she blushes like that.'

~Move in for the kill!~

Kurama ignored the last thought, and only smiled instead. "Don't mind me, if I get too carried away sometimes."

"You? Carried away?" Keiko laughed lightly, her smile brightening even more. "Somehow I can't see that happening. But it's alright, I kinda liked it." 'Actually, I liked it alot.' the thought entered her mind and her eyes widened a bit as she realized what she had just said.

"Oh, I can get quite carried away when my barriers come down." 'Why am I telling her this?' "There's a reason I don't get drunk. Like, one time--," Kurama said despite himself.

Keiko idly pushed her bowl away, bringing her arms up to rest her elbows on the table top. She laced her fingers together and rested her chin on top of them, intent on listening to Kurama talk.

"Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and I all went to the bath house a few years ago, and the attendants were serving free sake. Apparently, when I get drunk, my youko side tends to "take over". And what would you know... Separated by only a fence, our side of the bath was right next to the female baths!"

"Oh my," Keiko giggled, though her cheeks flushed a rosy color. "That sounds... interesting." Was all she could think to say.

"Yes... that is exactly what Youko said. 'Interesting', when he scaled the fence, and started chasing all the women. It was two hours until Yusuke and the others finally caught up with me. I don't suppose you'll want the details?"

Keiko scoffed, "I'm sure I can imagine what Yusuke did. Especially if he saw the girls bathing."

Kurama smiled sympthetically at the girl, remembering. "Yusuke had his out of control moments as well. He's one of those impulsive types, ne?"

Keiko shrugged, "Well, it's none of my concern now, anyway. So, how did it all turn out?" she asked, surprising Kurama with the fact that she even wanted to know.

"Mm. After tracking me down into the laundry room, Hiei cornered me, and Yusuke knocked me out (very carefully, so I'm told) with reigun. Luckily, I was halfway to my senses by the time, and didn't fight as hard as I could have. The next morning my head sported a bruise, an angry fox spirit and a double hangover. Horrible experience," Kurama said, wincing at the memory.

Keiko couldn't stop the bubbling laughter that emerged at the mental picture she got. It was just too amusing, though she was a bit miffed at the fact that Yusuke had used his spirit gun on Kurama. 'Couldn't they have subdued him another way?'

"Now that I think about it... Yusuke was the one who got into the really odd "adventures" when drunk," Kurama said, hoping that Keiko would be willing to laugh over her ex-boyfriend's past mistakes. It helped, laughing to get over the pain.

And from her smile, he knew she still hurt.

Like a fish, Keiko fell for it, hook, line and sinker. "Oh really? Like what?" she asked, smiling.

"Have heard the song, "Hot in Here" by Nelly?"

Keiko nodded, "Mhmm, I have the cd at home. Why?"

"One day, it was decided that the tantei would celebrate a certain mission's victory at Kuwabara's house, and Kuwabara had decided that the occasion merited sake. Well, the boom box happened to be playing "Hot in Here" when Yusuke finally reached a certain point in his drinking..."

Keiko made a sound somewhere between a groan and a laugh. Somehow, she had a faint idea of what had happened.

Pausing slightly, Kurama took a sip of his ramen, building suspense. "He took the lyrics to heart, and performed for us... In particular, Kuwabara's reaction, was quite memorable: "Oh God, My eyes!" After our initial bemusement, we convinced Yusuke to at least keep on his boxers."

Keiko blinked, curiosity getting the better of her. "Boxers? What kind?"

"You don't know?" the kitsune smiled teasingly.

Keiko blushed, "Why Kurama, what kind of girl do you take me for?"

'One easy to talk to.' But Kurama only shook his head to show he hadn't meant it, and smiled again. "If you must know... chibi devils."

"Chibi devils?"

"Yes, the kind with the pitchforks..."

Keiko shook her head, muttering, "Chibi devils..." then she glanced back up at Kurama. "You're putting me on, aren't you?"

~On? Oh yes!! Oohh Let me out! Let me out! I wanna talkkkkkk!!!~

'Grope, you mean. We are not having a repeat of the 'bathhouse incident'. And for Inari's sake, we know this woman.'

"I am 'dead' serious," Kurama said, half warningly to Yuoko, half politely to Keiko. "It seems that Yusuke was not to be deterred from his way. Stubborness, you know."

Keiko laughed, "Stubborn? That's putting it a bit lightly, Kurama."

"Yes, he always was the hardheaded one," Kurama said fondly.

Then, they both, former team mate, and former girlfriend, looked at each other's similar expressions and burst into uncontrollable laughter. Impulsively, Keiko reached out and grasped one of Kurama's hands, which were resting on the table.

"I don't know how I managed to put up with him for as long as I did."

'We're holding hands! How did that happen?'

~Score!~

'Good Inari, don't encourage the poor girl! I try to help her get over Yusuke, and you turn it against me!'

~...She was first to grab your hand, baka.~

'Uh huh. And I'll bet you didn't enjoy it at all, ne?'

~Oh? And my reaction is the only one making our heart race?~

'Yes. Because you are the one who jumps on naked women in a bath house.'

~Undeniable. Also undeniable the way Keiko-chan is staring at you. Moron. Say something.~

"Kurama, are you alright?" Her hand squeezed his slightly in concern.

'Oh, well. She hasn't seemed to noticed we're still holding hands. And I feel... strangely relaxed, so...'

Nodding, Kurama continued. "He ran into the street before we could stop him. Still wearing only those boxers. It just happened, that some local gang was passing by--"

He stopped and turned around, blinking. 'Wonderful timing...' "Yusuke, there you are. Hiei said you wanted to meet us here."

Kurama saw the smile, that had been directed at his and Keiko's interwined hands fade into embarrassment. 'Oh my, we're still holding hands?' He knew the feeling.

~*~

Hiei was very, very bored. Kurama and the girl sat at the far end of the shop, barricaded by a gulf of customers. They had been talking for thirty minutes.

Clouds of warm steam from the noodles gave the girl some color to her previously pale face. Or perhaps it was something other than the steam? She talked animatedly, and he could see Kurama leaning forward, intent on her words. He responded, making slight gestures with his chopsticks.

As far as Hiei could tell, this is what they were saying:

"THIS MEETING OF THE WEEKLY, TOKYO FOUNDATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF LUNCH IS NOW IN SESSION. QUIET DOWN PLEASE..."

"-- did you bring the babies in here?"

"I'm hungry, Momma..."

"Oi, can we get more salt over here?"

Or not....

Contrary to popular belief, demons were not all powerful, unlimited creatures. They died, they bled, and their senses were of the same capacity as humans. The only major difference between humans and demons, was that demons had a sixth sense: youki. Not that youki was doing much good at the moment, because Hiei could not raise it and risk Kurama's suspicion.

In other words, Hiei could not hear over the crowd's Incessant Yammering. He was irritated. Very much so. And bored.

Oh, he could catch a word every so often. When Kurama or the girl raised their voice in emphasis. But it usually went something like this:

" house...."

"...."

"....Stolen Movie Tickets!"

"...."

It was confusing as fuck.

Hiei lay down on his elbow, eyes glaring. His booth neighbor, a round housewife, protested the action, but he took no notice. The fox was half way done with his Ramen. Chicken... he smelled. Now, they were laughing...

And suddenly, his bored brain was making 'creative' subtitles for the conversation... What he knew about romance, he had seen from Kurama's soap operas.

Keiko laughs, hand covering her mouth.

"Oh, Kurama, I never knew you could be so charming!"

Kurama smiles, and responds, eyes twinkling.

"Well, my dear, Perhaps we should get to know one another a little more... If you know what I mean."

Keiko raises an eyebrow, and leans forward.

"Indeed, my darling. I must say, I'm falling deeper in love by the moment! Let us prove our feelings to each other in the most phsyical way!"

Kurama laughs out loud this time. And says, quite distinctly, "...Boxers..!"

....

'No way...' Hiei face faulted.

When Hiei was still staring at them in shock, some part of him almost expecting to see the two lovebirds rip their clothes off and do it right in the middle of the Yukimura Noodle House, he hardly felt Yusuke's hand on his shoulder. 'How the hell did they get so close in such a short time?!'

Yusuke had been on his way to the arcade, and had seen Hiei (God knows how) in the crowd of the shop. It was then Yusuke remembered Keiko. And the last time they had talked: three weeks ago, after their breakup. The resulting guilt was swift and immediate.

"Hiei! What brings you here?" The teen took no notice of Hiei's absent response, and looked about the room, somehow (God knows how) spotting Kurama and Keiko sitting together, still in deep conversation and laughing. "Looks like you have things under control. Knew you could do it! What are they talking about?"

"Hell if I know," Hiei said in irritation.

"I'm going to go over and say hi..."

"huh... No! Yusuke! I heard the word 'boxers'! Don't do ..." 'Oh shit. He never listens.'

Curiously, Hiei watched with impending dread. Yusuke pushed through the crowd and approached the couple's table. It was amusing, yet a bit disturbing to see his leader's shoulders gradually wilt, and hunch over. Hopefully, the teen would give Hiei some report of Kurama and Keiko's relationship as it now stood.

"Yusuke, there you are. Hiei said you wanted to meet us here." At his greeting, Kurama turned, his hand sliding from Keiko's inadvertantly.

Yusuke's face took on a blank look of confusion. "Huh? What the hell are you talking about Kurama? This is the first time I've talked to Hiei in weeks."

'He must feel mortified, walking in on that sort of conversation. Serves him right, after I warned him.' the fire demon thought to himself smugly. 'But then again, this Yusuke, so maybe not...'

Oh? Those shoulders had suddenly popped up again. Yusuke was leaning forward and speaking. Hiei strongly suspected that if the teen had a tail, it would be waving about curiously.

There was a pause in the little group; Kurama stood up, his tall, red headed person towering over most of the humans in the noodle shop. He stared at Hiei.

'Oh shit....He knows...'

~*~

TBC...