Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho

Suraki brings you more happy yaoi to sink your teeth into. This is a pairing I've not finished a story for in a while so bare with me if my characters are a bit OOC. BTW if I spelled 'bargened' someone please tell me. My spellcheck is down.

Chapter One

"Tell me something, Urameshi," said Kuwabara.

"What?" I asked.

"Are you color-blind?"

"N-no, why do you ask?"

"Well, that getup of yours is pretty bad."

"What're you talking about?"

"You're wearing a red plaid undershirt with a yellow shirt over it and a green jacket with an orange collar. Don't tell me that's an accident, I've seen you wear it a bunch of times."

I stared at him over my coffee. We were at the new Starbucks four miles east of Tokyo proper having coffee and trying to catch up since we'd been separated since I was fifteen. Not that it matters much seeing as how we're just friends but he was hit pretty hard when I left (he hit me pretty hard too). Now, on the day after my return I was 18 and a day old. Sounds funny now that I think about it because the last time I was in this world I was a freshman in high school and so much had changed since I left. Kuwabara started going on dates, which bugged the hell out of me because I was tied down to Keiko. Kurama 'came out of the closet' –it was only a matter of time anyway. Hiei hasn't been back since god knows when and most shockingly of all, Keiko's hair grew about 26 inches. Nah, I'm just kidding. The real shocker was when Yukina said she was pregnant.

Don't ask. Something about being 100 and Immaculate Conception. This made me wonder where the heck Hiei's Y chromosome came from but anywho, back to Kuwabara asking me embarrassing questions.

"If you're not color-blind then what color is my shirt?"

"Uhh… topaz?"

"Is that even a color? You're making stuff up."

"Topaz is gold, idiot. Like a yellowy color."

"That's weird coz my shirt is purple. What color are my eyes?"

"Orange for all I care. You're eyes are tiny, I don't want to get close enough to you to find out." I was, of course, messing with him. I knew his eyes were blue. "I'm surprised you can get dates with green hair. Are you trying to be a punk rocker?"

"Are you kidding?"

"Hell yeah! I'm not color-blind, just fashion challenged but I know that your shirt is not purple. It's magenta. Or maybe mauve, I can't tell really. What's the difference between magenta and mauve anyway?"

"For all I know, they're both purple. Since when do you care about colors anyway?"

"Since about half of the demons in the Makai are one shade of purple or another and the queer ones get a bit touchy about the color of their skin. 'Oh, I'm indigo, not purple,'" I said, imitating a high-pitched girly-man voice.

"It's not cool to call 'em queers," Kuwabara said with a glare. "How can you say that stuff what with Kurama and all?"

"I don't have a problem with gays. I love Kurama, you know that."

Kuwabara raised an eyebrow at me. "Love?"

"I love all of you jokers. Yes, even Hiei. It was one of the lessons that Grandma always beat so hard into my head. Gotta love something with all your energy and spirit, she was always telling me. Not in those exact words but something like that. And seeing as how my heart doesn't beat anymore, I guess I gotta love with my spirit."

"Was that a round-about way of saying that you love me?"

"Now who's being intolerant? It's the platonic friendly kind of love, you know. The way you love you're m… er… Shizuru. Speaking of which, she doesn't have a crush on Kurama does she?"

"Nah, she's too smart for that. She knew about him being… you know, like the second she met him."

"I did too."

"He told me that all demons are bi but he just prefers the males."

"Ix-nay on the emon-day."

"There's no one here but the barista. Jeeze Urameshi, you're actin awful weird. Why do you care if my sis has a crush on Kurama?"

"She's like a big sister to me too; I was worried about her getting hurt. Kurama being a lady-killer and all but I guess he's not that anymore is he… Hmm… something to think about."

"How's Keiko?"

"Determined."

"Determined to do what?"

"Drive me outta my friggen mind, what do you think?"

"What's she done?"

"Asking me if I cheated on her while I was away."

"Did you?"

"No! Are you kidding me? There were no normal people around me in that crazy place. Once I was there for a while, I realized that I hated it. I don't care if all those people are prospective fights. I need to settle down and quit beating people up anyway." I stuck a coffee stir in my mouth and rested my elbows on the table, leaning forward. "Not that I didn't have the chance," I whispered. "Demons were always hitting on me. It's coz of my class."

"Let me guess, not all of them were women."

"They prefer to be called females coz of the connotation with the humanness. And no, most of them were male actually. Now that I think of it, it was kind of weird."

"And you're telling me you were 100 faithful?"

"I didn't even hug another demon while I was away. I avoided touching people at all costs. It gave me a creepy feeling in my stomach when demons would… hit on me, you know. So I tried to be standoffish. Kept most of them away but there were a few that were persistent. Of course, I had to kick some ass. It's too much of a hassle being on of the beautiful people. But you wouldn't know that."

"Shut up, Urameshi, I can get a date with any girl I want!"

"Because you're psychic, big deal. Are you even happy?"

"Well… Uh… I'm happy now coz my best friend is back. I don't know…" Kuwabara buried his face in his hands.

Hands, touching my chest… I shivered even though the thought made me feel warm. Wait, hold on! I'm not thinking what I think I'm thinking am I?

"Whassamatter, Urameshi?" asked Kuwabara, looking up.

"I don't think the things I think before I think them okay!"

"Try saying that five times fast. What are you talking about?"

I took the mutilated swizzle-stick out of my mouth and stuck it in my cold coffee. Stupid demon blood. I am NOT gay. "I don't know. Half the time, things just come out of my mouth without permission."

"Wow, you're even weirder than I remember."

"That's why you love me though, right?"

"I wouldn't call it love."

For some reason, that made my face get really hot. Might have been the way he said it or the way he was scanning my body with his hungry eyes…

To quote a Christian, Jesus FUCKING Christ.

"I gotta go, I just remembered that I have to wash my dog." I stood up and bolted, ignoring Kuwabara calling after me telling me that I didn't have a dog.

- -

Kurama answered the door holding his toothbrush. "With the way you were knocking, I thought there was an emergency," he said.

"Is that any way to say hello?" I said.

"I'm sorry. Hello, Yusuke, how are you this morning? It is technically morning isn't it?"

"Why are you brushing your teeth at midnight?"

"Pesky plaque. It never sleeps. Come in."

I walked into his HUMONGOUS house, wondering if maybe he was rich. He had gargoyles for crying out loud. "Nice house," I said.

"Is it?" he said. "Sometimes I wonder if perhaps it's a bit too big. It is just me here now. I don't pay the mortgage anyway." He shook his head and set the toothbrush down on the side-board in the foyer He had a FUCKING foyer. Which I believe is pronounced foy-AY if you want to be snooty and this was definitely a snooty house. Not that Kurama was snooty. He was the exact opposite. "So, what seems to be the trouble?"

"I think I might be… um… attracted to… someone who isn't exactly female."

"Oh? Who?" He didn't seem very interested, almost as if he was expecting it. Which made me wonder about myself.

"Well, honestly, I'm not sure."

Kurama examined his nails for a second before turning his attention back to me. He's got some piercing green eyes… "Take a seat, I have a feeling that this won't be over-with very soon."

"Thanks." I walked into the main room of the house which appeared to be a library. I say appeared because I'd never seen a library with so many books. Not in someone's house anyway. I took a seat on a big comfy leather couch in the 'seating area' I guess because it had some chairs arranged in a semi-circle around a fireplace. "If I'm annoying you-"

"Not at all," Kurama interrupted. "What are friends for?" He took a seat directly across from me on the other couch.

"You just don't seem all that interested."

"Honestly, Yusuke, I've been waiting for this conversation for a good while now. After careful consideration and thought, I've decided that the best thing to tell you is to go with what your heart wants. What makes you feel warm inside when you think of it? Is there a person who does that to you? Things to consider. Also, I'm well aware that you are in love with Keiko but you must ask yourself if you are truly attracted to her."

"Half my life I've been sexually harrassing her."

"Why?"

"Why? What do you mean 'why?' I have a good reason for it. It's coz I'm a perve."

"Why? What is your goal in harrassing her? Are you trying to get her attention or are you trying to affirm that you are indeed attracted to her? If it is attention you seek, what kind of attention are you looking for?"

"I never thought of it that way, mostly I was doing it because it made her mad. So I guess that's attention-seeking, isn't it?"

"I must ask again, what kind of attention did you want?"

"Uh-… I'm not sure. Like, at all."

"She basically takes care of you doesn't she?"

"What do you mean?"

"She tries to make sure you go to school, that you've eaten breakfast, that you do your homework. Things of that nature."

"Yeah, she's always done that."

"And she was the only friend you had until you decided to stop beating up Kuwabara?"

"Uh-huh, what's your point?"

"I wonder if perhaps you see her as a mother figure. I've heard several times from you that your mother is rarely, if ever, there for you. Am I correct in assuming that you have no idea who your father is?"

"My father was Raizen," I said that quickly and adamantly.

"I'm talking about this generation."

"You're talking about my sperm donor."

"Not in so many words but it will suffice."

"My mom has it narrowed down to about… oh… fifty guys. She doesn't really know. I don't really care."

"From your background, I would assume that any relationship in which someone takes care of you would be rather attractive, if not sexually then emotionally."

"Is that bad?"

"Is it? I wonder… I grew up with a very loving mother. My father, unfortunately, died a short time after my birth so I never knew him in the conventional father-son sense. My step-father treats me as his son for which, I am very grateful. Yet, as I grew up, I never felt I was lacking in parental love. You, however, are the opposite. This brings us to the question that brought you here: why do you have feelings for a man?"

"That's the 50 million dollar question, isn't it?"

"Fifty million is all this answer is worth?"

"All?"

"My father's company grosses twice that amount in four months. It isn't a lot of money."

"Maybe not for you. So what's the answer?"

"I believe I already gave it to you."

"I must not have been paying attention."

"You should do as your heart directs. In essence, follow your heart to where it feels at home. Think about all that I have said, give it time. Meditate on the answer. Now, as it is far too late to be out and about, I think you should spend the night in the guest suite."

"Guest suite? You have one of those?"

"I have three. I'll give you the one with the Jacuzzi tub. Feel free to take a bath."

Seriously? This can't be for real!