Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Intangible ❯ Laughing Maniac ( Chapter 3 )

.Three.

"Eight ball, quarter pocket."

"Oh come on! Give me a challenge!"

Kurama glowered at me and I laughed. Fine, I would accept his damn challenge-which really wasn't a challenge at all. That guy seriously underestimated by skills. So I took up my position and lined up the balls carefully. Strange thing about the game was that I was actually winning. I mean I hadn't played pool in a really, really long time and I was surprising myself here. Maybe that sounded too arrogant but that was genuinely how I felt. So when I struck the ball and got it in, I wasn't too surprised. Heh, yeah now that sounded arrogant didn't it?

But Kurama sure was surprised.

"Dammit."

I watched him as he shook his head and leaned against the table in exasperation and grinned. "Kurama! You violent child!" I exclaimed. Naturally I received a glare. But I took it. "Want to start another?" I offered. Of course by this time I was beating Kurama ten to three. Kurama was smart, though. He declined my offer and instead decided for us to get some dinner. I agreed with him. I was damn hungry.

"Know any good places?" I asked him as we headed out of the dark pool hall and into the even darker night (I chose a rather obscene neighborhood to play pool in).

"There's a pretty good Malaysian restaurant a few blocks from here," he suggested lightly. At this time I was scrutinizing him like some kind of an experiment. Something about his posture and the way he spoke threw me off. Kurama was a pretty calm person in general but all of the sudden it bothered me at that precise moment.

So what did I do about it?

I grabbed his arm and hightailed down the streets. Faintly, I remembered Kurama yelling at me to stop but I only just sped up my pace until we reached the main street, where I stopped abruptly. Kurama nearly toppled over behind me but I was holding onto his arm and kept him balanced as he stopped.

"Yusuke!"

Ah, sweet satisfaction. Seeing Kurama all jumpy and out of breath thrilled me. It was just so opposite of how he usually was, you know? I couldn't help it. I needed to get some king of reaction from him or else I would blow. That was why Kuwabara was so fun to mess with. That guy showed his feelings like a spring waterfall.

Okay, enough examples.

We headed into the restaurant and got seated in a quiet corner. Kurama reverted back to his normal self by then and I was scanning the menu for anything that looked scrumptious. Eventually I just ordered a simple meal of coconut rice and curry chicken while Kurama ordered…something I really can't say or describe. Mind you, the place was Malaysian. I never tried Malaysian food, but Kurama seemed to trust it so that was more than enough for me. Yeah, what can I say? Kurama had a big influence over what I ate…not. I got the feeling that I would probably eat pickled squid even if Kurama said it tasted horrible. I liked some weird things, okay? You are talking to the one that ate plain corn cereal with orange juice instead of milk here. So yes, I was a strange eater. And why am I rambling on about food??

Okay, back on subject! After Kurama and I ordered our meals, we just sat in silence for a while. It was a peaceful silence, though. I don't know why, but I resorted to staring at Kurama's hair as a pastime until our food arrived. I never really paid much attention to his hair before, but the guy has nice hair. It was red, shiny, and silky-looking. I really wouldn't know about the last part, though, considering I never touched Kurama's hair but it looked silky enough. He was a kitsune, right? I guess it was only natural but then somehow as I stared at his hair, I began comparing it my own hair. Yeah, first food now hair, just bear with me, okay? But my hair was dark and quite opposite from Kurama's. For one thing, my hair was always slicked back with gel so not even I really know how my hair felt like. Pretty bad, right? Then before I knew it, I was absentmindedly beginning to finger my hair. It was stiff and hard because of the gel and I just wanted to go to the bathroom to dunk it into the sink. While I was doing this, I knew it was weird at the same time. Why was I thinking of hair?? I really have no idea but at that moment, Kurama decided to ask about it.

"Why are you playing with your hair, Yusuke?"

"Err…ah…um…"

Brilliant answer wouldn't you say?

"Yusuke?"

Great, Kurama was beginning to stare at me strangely. I hated it when people did that. Of course I still couldn't think of something to say to explain myself. Then our waitress appeared with our food on a tray and I breathed a sigh of relief. Saved by the waitress, right? I would definitely have to tip her well. After our food was placed on the table, Kurama seemed to have forgotten his question and I was still scolding myself on being so absentminded.

"You still haven't answered, Yusuke."

Dammit…

"I got a strange urge to look at my hair?"

Lord save me…

Kurama laughed and I looked up in surprise. He was staring at me with those green eyes of his and I found myself turning red. Good God, what was wrong with me?? I turned to stare at my food for a minute before beginning to eat in an attempt to hide my embarrassment. I was such an idiot wasn't I?

"Be careful not to get any of it in your rice," came Kurama's calm voice.

That did it.

I started choking on my food and had to grab my soda to drown my food down. All this happened in a course of about a second, too. After I swallowed about half my drink, I was still coughing. Damn Kurama. Did he really have to torment me like that? It was strange because his comment didn't necessarily embarrass me like it normally would but it actually made me laugh. Of course laughing with a spoonful of coconut rice and chicken rolling about in your mouth was not a good thing. I found that out the hard way and soon found Kurama patting my back.

"Are you all right? I didn't know my comment would cause this kind of reaction otherwise I would have refrained from saying it," he said in his oh-so calm voice that was slightly tinted with worry.

But you know what? Him saying that just made me laugh even harder and the lone grains of rice that I did not swallow managed to choke me again and soon I was gulping down more soda with Kurama patting my back like some kind of baby in need of burping. When my choking was reduced to a few coughs, I finally began to realize what I scene I was causing and that just made me laugh even harder. Luckily this time I didn't have any food in my mouth so I actually laughed in a normal way save the little gasps of air I needed after a few seconds.

And I just kept on laughing.

Somehow I think my laughing was caused out of an unconscious effort made by my mind to fight off the embarrassment Kurama's question posed before. Yes, you're probably wondering how I came to this conclusion but it was the only thing that made sense to me. I don't ever laugh that much, okay? So at that moment I was laughing on the outside but crying in misery on the inside.

And Kurama was still trying to calm me down.

"Yusuke…Yusuke, can you please quiet down?" he asked as he glanced around us in mild embarrassment. I only continued laughing. Dammit, why couldn't I be as calm and reserved as him?? If I were in his place, I'd probably punch the person to be quiet. Fortunately Kurama was more of a gentleman than me.

Eventually the waitress came over.

"Um, excuse me sir? But do you mind calming down a bit? You're scaring some of the customers," she said in a tone that sounded guilty.

Poor girl. She probably didn't want to seem like she was yelling at us and she really wasn't at all. But what did I do?? I just continued laughing and laughing. Somehow I just found everything really amusing and everything everyone said made me laugh. If only they would just shut up then I could calm down!! But until then, I just stayed laughing.

It remained like that was until Kurama finally asked for the waitress to pack up our food. He paid the bill (which I really couldn't do since I was still laughing) and led me out of the restaurant while apologizing profusely to the workers. When we got outside, he began leading me out of the main streets and back to the quieter parts of the neighborhood-probably to prevent further embarrassment. Vaguely, I remembered thinking that was a good idea. Eventually as we continued walking, I began calming down-mainly because there was no one around us and Kurama was completely silent. Then when I finally did quiet down, the guilt and embarrassment sunk in full throttle. Why oh why did I have an episode like that?? I was beginning to feel really guilty until I realized Kurama had led us back to his house.

"Kurama?" I asked quietly when we reached his door. Kurama just opened up the door and turned on the lights to the dark house. Then he took my arm and dragged me to the kitchen where he sat me down. I stared up at him in surprise.

"Are you somber yet?"

I blinked slowly. "Yes…" I started before Kurama took our containers of food and headed to the counter. I watched him in confusion. What was that guy doing?? I could only imagine. Lord knew I just hoped he was about to grab a knife and stab me in the chest while screaming out, "You are so bloody annoying, Urameshi!! Do you not know how to restrict yourself from laughing like a goddamn drunken madman??" I shuddered at the thought.

But when Kurama turned around, I was more or less surprise-but in a pleasant way. He had placed our food onto plates and replaced the cheap chopsticks with his own. Kurama placed my plate in front of me and took up his seat across from me like the way we were in the restaurant. I stared at him in mild surprise before shaking my head slowly. God, this guy was so smart that it became funny.

"Well, despite the amusement I got out our previous engagement, I think this will suit us better, no?" Kurama inquired lightly. I looked up at him and put on a serious face.

"Yes, sir. This is quite fine with me and I promise I will not laugh like a psychological maniac."

Kurama shook his head slightly at me, a faint smile on his face. I looked back at him with a wide grin before starting to eat my food, which was still warm thankfully. I definitely preferred the solitude of his house than that restaurant with all those people around us. It definitely put a certain line over how many things I could say or do. Smirking, I looked at Kurama.

"You know this wasn't so bad of a first date."

"It depends on your definition of bad," Kurama replied casually as he started eating.

I smiled at him. Yep, if this scheme was going to actually work, then Kurama and I were probably going to make the craziest couple ever imagined. Somehow, though, I kind of liked the idea of me and Kurama…ack. All right, no more thinking like that, Urameshi!!

"Perhaps next time you will be able to withhold yourself a little better."

I looked at Kurama in surprise before slowly grinning. That guy definitely had a way with his words. "Yeah, hopefully. So…when do we have our first kiss, eh?"

Silence.

"I was only kidding you, damn."

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TBC