Chapter Three: Family and Friends
Buzz intensifying in his ears, Kurama opened his eyes. The room was still. Blood raced through his limbs and the heart thudded against his chest. Closing his eyes once more, it took a few minutes before Kurama registered the original reason for his lapse back into the present. His mother had returned.
Letting a smile slide over his features, Kurama rose from his bed. He unlatched the window and pulled it open. As the breeze drifted through, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply, pulling his demon aura back into himself. He opened his eyes and turned. His plants had resumed their stasis forms and the vines around the door had vanished, leaving it open a crack. Shuichi's smile in place, he left the room.
In the kitchen downstairs, Shiori Minamino leaned over the fridge, shuffling vegetables around. A small box rested on the counter with a strong aroma of spiced beef.
"Is that you, Shuichi?" she called out in a mellow voice as she shifted a cabbage over to the left.
"Yes, Mother," he replied, kneeling down and helping her. He removed the half of a tomato on the top shelf and a quarter of a pepper from the door, setting them on the table. Reaching for the pitcher of tea, Kurama added, "How was your day?"
"Much better than yesterday. The dinner meeting went well, too. You and Kazuya are welcome to the rest of it."
Kurama took out a container of roller omelets. "I'm sure he will be thrilled." He turned around and turned the stove on before moving the wok over the small flame.
His mother poured herself a glass from the pitcher. "How did your studying go?" she inquired. "Did you remember lunch?"
"Mother," Kurama chuckled, spooning out rice from the cooker into a small bowl. "I can take care of myself. Please rest."
It was his mother's turn to laugh in whispering gasps. "You've always been so confident, Shuichi, even before your father left and I got ill." She sat at the low table in the tatami floored living room. "Sometimes I wonder why I worry now." She took a sip. "A mother's perogative, I guess. How are you doing with money for food?"
"Mother," Kurama repeated, chuckling. He grabbed a knife and cut up the tomato, pepper and egg on a cutting board. Turning, he mixed the rice in the wok with a long chopstick. His free hand poured the cubed ingredients on top.
"Alright, alright, I understand when to quit." She sipped at her tea for a few minutes while Kurama continued cooking. He stirred the rice dish for a couple minutes in silence then reached blindly for the pepper and salt, increasing the rate of his mixing. As the house filled with the smells of choice herbs he added, his mother spoke up again, "Where is your brother?"
"At a karaoke bar down the street," Kurama responded, switching the heat off. "He should be back within the hour." He poured his dinner into the small bowl.
"You should go along with him sometimes."
Kurama sat down cross-legged with his bowl and chopsticks in one hand and his glass in another. "I'm quite happy, mother, with staying behind, and it lets Kazuya win the games more often."
She smiled. "You are so generous."
"I doubt it is that. I merely have more studies than him at the moment.
"You're just saying that."
"Well, perhaps," Kurama murmured, pausing in his dinner, "I prefer to spend my company with those who have a chance to beat me." He grinned wider and took another bite of the fried rice.
His mother leaned on her hand to look at him closely. She sighed, "You always have a reason, dear. Always thinking."
More than you know, Kurama elaborated quietly before saying, "It is who I am, mother."
"I know, and your generosity is a part of you, too."
"Maybe," he said with another ambiguous smile.
She smiled quietly. "Thoughtful yet distant, Shuichi, I wonder how you will fall in love."
Kurama choked on his juice. "What?" he croaked.
"I said- Wait, Shuichi, you seem surprised." Shiori Minamino lost her glazed expression and focused on her eldest son. "Have I touched on something you meant to keep secret?"
Heart pumping in his ears, Kurama regained his composure, sipping lightly from his glass. "If you are referring to a girlfriend, no, I am still single. You would be the first person I told if that changed."
"You startled when I mentioned that," she pushed.
Kurama bit out a short chuckle. "I was merely surprised by this topic again so soon after the last time." He smiled. "I have too much work to do to think about girls right now." Picking up his dishes and his mother's empty glass, he rose. "I need to study for a little longer. Good night, mother." She nodded and echoed him.
