"What do you think you're doing here?"

The voice came from a teenage boy sitting on top of a concrete wall two stories behind. Behind him was a giant, blue, beautiful bird. Its wings were outstretched to provide the boy some shade. Below him was the famous redheaded teen known as Kuwabara, and his signature sword was glowing between his hands.

He pointed it at the sitting boy. "I've come to kill you, Yusuke Urameshi!"

"Oh?" The boy smiled, clearly intrigued. Two pointed teeth peaked out from his bottom lip. He stood, and the bird tucked its wings closer to its body. "And what makes you think you can kill me, human?"

"I'm Kazuma Kuwabara! That's why!"

The demon laughed.

Before Kuwabara had the chance to brink, Yusuke was next to him. He gave Kuwabara just enough time to swing his sword at him before punching him. He easily dodged Kuwabara's attack. There was a barrage of punches and kicks, leaving Kuwabara bruised, bleeding, and on the ground.

His vision had turned sideways. Yusuke was standing a few feet away from him. From this close, he was able to get a good look at the prince. He had to be around his own age in terms of physical maturaity, and for a demon, his body was human-like beyond the tattoos running across his body. He wore ripped blue jeans, and his muscular chest was bare.

"Kazuma Kuwabara, eh? I'll remember that name. It's dumb as hell."

Anger raged inside Kuwabara. He tried to force himself up, but he found that his arms wouldn't support his weight. The last thing Kuwabara saw was Yusuke jumping up to the top of the wall before his vision went black.

There were two major sentient species in the world: the demons and the humans, and as long as anyone could remember, the demons had ruled over the humans. There were three kingdoms ruled by three kings: Raizen, Mukuro, and Yomi. In-between these three kingdoms were human villages and towns.

Kuwabara lived in a village close to Raizen's kingdom. The other two kingdoms were so far away they didn't seem real. They were nothing more than new shared. Most of the caring for the kingdom was done by the Raizen's men. Like his father, the demon prince had no interest in running the kingdom.

Some of Kuwabaras first memories were of his sister and himself hiding in the closest as King Raizen's men searched their village for what would be their dinner. King Raizen hadn't ate humans in over seven hundred years, but his men did.

Shizuru had held her breath and hugged onto Kuwabara tighter as the heavy footsteps of demons grew closer to them. The demon paused outside of the closest and sniffed the air. Shizuru began to fearfully chant under her breath. The demon continued sniffing around, but it did move on. They didn't take anyone from his house that day, but when they returned when Kuwabara was ten, they took both their mother and father. The demons almost took them, but when Shizuru started chanting, they passed the closet like it wasn't there.

From that day on, Kuwabara vowed that he would become strong enough to kill the ruling demons and free humanity. He devoted his life to making himself stronger. The demons did not rule over the humans because they were more intelligent or had more wealth. What kept humanity at their mercy was their difference in power. Stories of humans who were able to kill demons who tried to take them away were passed from person to person almost like they were myths and legends. Some of Kuwabara's favorite stories involved a physic named Genkai who had become so powerful that no demon would come close to her home.

Kuwabara's determination to slay the kings led him to eventually join up with like minded rebels. There numbers were small. The strength of the kings were great, too much for some to even comprehend. To fight against them was to surely face death. Prince Urameshi, who was weaker than the three kings, could destroy mountains. Raizens strength was even greater, even if he was no longer at his prime. Kuwabara didn't care. He would just have to become stronger than them.

The rebels consisted of four main participants: Koenma, the brave teenage son of the village leader, Botan, a woman who had some physic powers of her own, Kuwabara himself, and Kurama, who was something else entirely.

Kuwabara had tried to get his sister to join, but she had dismissed the idea. She claimed it was nothing but foolishness.

Kuwabara was their weapon. If Prince Urameshi was their demon, then Kuwabara was their savor. His strength, which he claimed was born out of love for his fellow humans, could not be matched by anyone else.

After months of plotting, they devised a plan. They would kill Prince Urameshi. He was the weakest of the demon royalty, and hopefully the grief would be enough to push King Raizen to death. His kingdom would collapse without their ruler. Kurama insisted on going about it another way, but he was outnumbered when it came time to vote

And that was what lead Kuwabara to attack Prince Urameshi and fail.

"Kuwabara! Kuwabara!"

His name being called from multiple people was the first thing he heard. When he opened his eyes, he saw three heads peering over him and Botan's hands hovering above his chest. The space between them and himself was filled with blue magic.

He also saw the familiar dirt ceiling of their hideout. When they formed the gang, Kuwabara decided he would build them a hideaway underground. Most of it he dug himself, but the other member helped. It was a fairly wide open rood. It held four people easily. The familiar smell was comforting. It meant safety.

"He's alive," Koenma stated, relieved. "You scared us. We thought you were gone for good."

"It'll take more than that to bring me down." Kuwabara said with a grin.

But something wasn't right. Yusuke Urameshi had left him alive, and Kuwabara had attempted to kill him. He tried to sit up, but Botan pushed him back down.

"Not so fast, young man." Her voice was soft and cheerful. Kuwabara was sure he would have fallen in love with her if she was a man. "I'm not done healing you."

"Oh, right. Sorry, Botan." Kuwabara laid back down.

Botan was a treasure. Thanks to her, Kuwabara was never kept down for long.

Kuwabara balled his hands into fists. He had failed his home and his fellow men. The demons still walked and ate flesh behind that concrete wall of their kingdom. That ass Yusuke was probably eating some poor human right now, laughing to his friends about the dumb human who attacked him today.

"I'm sorry I failed you guys. I'll get him next time," Kuwabara swore.

Koenma shook his head. He was like their leader, though all the rebels were equal. "You did fine, Kuwabara. You did better than anyone else could have."

Kuwabara gritted his teeth. "That's not good enough! They're still out there!"

"Kurama, what do you think our next move should be?" Koenma asked.

The red head had been silent since Kuwabara had woken up. Out of the four of them, Kurama was the best strategist, though his words were not always listened to. Lately, he'd been distant from the group.

"You know what I think. We can't go about this by just sending Kuwabara in to kill the prince. We need an army, or we need to try more sly methods."

"We don't have time for that!" Kuwabara argued. "While we're doing all that, more people are going to die. I was just surprised when he came at me, that's all. I'll go after him again when I heal up, and I'll get him this time."

"Right!" Botan chimed in. "I know we'll get him next time. Kuwabara's the strongest man alive. If he can't win, then who can?"

No one pointed out that no one had defeated any of the demon royalty yet. Kurama sighed. The light from Botan's hand faded, and Kurama held his hand out to Kuwabara.

"Then we need to get back to training, don't we?"

Kuwabara took it. "You bet."

"Hey Dad, guess what happened earlier this week?"

Prince Yusuke stood in the stone doorway. Across from him sat his dying old man on his throne, who even on the verge of death, managed to piss him off just by existing. Yusuke's bird circled above them outside the stone walls. The only sounds that reached the section of the tower were the growls of the king's stomach and the occasional noise produced by the weather. King Raizen had been asleep when he entered, but now he raised his head to look at him. Yusuke gritted his teeth.

"Your balls finally dropped?" Raizen mocked.

Anger swirled in Yusuke's stomach.

"A human tried to kill me today, but I bet this is the first you've heard of it."

"Hokushin doesn't bother me with such trivial matters."

A growl threatened to break free from Yusuke's throat. "Hokushin doesn't bother you with anything because he does everything in the damn kingdom." He walked closer to the demon king. "Don't you care a bit?"

"If a son of mine is weak enough to be killed by a human, he deserves death."

Yusuke crouched arm's length away from Raizen so they were eye level. His breath was heavier and quicker, filled with rage. Throughout the whole exchange, Raizen remained constant. Nothing about his facial expression changed from mocking and distaste.

"Do you even know what today is, you asshole?" Anger laid just beneath the surface in his voice.

"Friday?" Raizen asked, bored.

"Let me give you a hint: it's the day your balls shriveled up and died."

The effect of his words were instantaneous. Raizen grabbed Yusuke by his neck. The prince swung at his father, but the king didn't so much as flinch. The elder' squeezed hard enough to leave bruises.

Today was Yusuke's birthday.

Today was the day Yusuke's mother had died.

Yusuke head was thrown against the stone floor hard enough to dent it. The familiar stain of blood appeared. Yusuke leaped up and ran at Raizen, but the demon king swiftly slammed him back down by grabbing his head and his left arm. This time the action procedured the sound of breaking bone.

"You fucking asshole!" Yusuke roared. He pointed his index finger at Raizen and a red beam shot out of it, but he simply stepped to the side. "I'm going to kill you one day."

"Have I ever deterred you from doing so?" Raizen asked.

"Don't you dare start bitching at me! I already get enough of that shit!"

"Fine," Raizen agreed.

Instead he punched Yusuke. Everything went black for the prince.

AN: So this is a fun little au I've enjoyed playing around in. A lot of the characters have little tweaks, but I've tried to retain their dynamics. It's inspired by the idea of Yusuke being a somewhat fairy tale figure. He's the evil prince. Kuwabara plays the role of the hero. I'm not sure if I'm happy with how his characterization turned out, as he is much more of a leader in this fic than he is in the show, but I find it fitting still. Hope you enjoyed!