Life is unpredictable. In Yusuke's opinion, his life was more unpredictable than the average person's. He thinks being dead and waiting for someone to reanimate him via the kiss of life is good reasoning for that assumption.
Disappointment weighs heavy on Yusuke's shoulders, but he can't find it in himself to fault Keiko for wanting to be with her mom. He can understand the fear of an ill parent. Atsuko rarely got sick...but he remembers a time from when he was around 10 when she was out for a week with the flu. It was probably the longest period of time they managed to get along.
So now he's meandering around his apartment and staring at his comatose body with the most pathetic expression he can muster. Yusuke's only 14 and he's going to die. For real this time. He didn't get time to mourn for the life he didn't live before, but now reality is crashing down around him. For a ghost he sure feels heavy right now.
Botan left a while ago to see if she could get through to Keiko, but Yusuke isn't holding his breath. Y'know, if he could breathe that is. Metaphors don't work the way they're supposed to when you're dead.
"She isn't coming," Yusuke says and his voice doesn't sound right. Bitter and hollow, a cold ringing in his ears. Koenma eyes him with disdain and tells him to have patience. Patience wasn't something Yusuke had when he was alive and it is not something he has now that his life is hanging in the balance.
Koenma looks like he's about to say something else when the clinking sound of the door lock turning catches them both by surprise. 'Oh, Keiko actually made it,' Yusuke thinks. Grief washes off his back in waves and he can feel a spark of hope igniting in his heart. Yusuke is saved with only 11 minutes to spare.
Fate is a funny thing though, and it's not Keiko who walks through the door. Yusuke's eyes bug out and his jaw drops as a shock of orange hair pokes through the crack of the door. Kuwabara's cursing to himself as he disentangles a lockpick from the apartment door. How does he even know how to use a lockpick? Why does Kuwabara of all people even own one? Yusuke sure as hell doesn't know. What's worse is that he isn't sure if he's relieved or horrified that Kuwabara of all people is here to play the prince to Yusuke's Sleeping Beauty. But, such is fate and Yusuke can't complain.
"Well, well, well," Koenma says, a sly smile splitting across his face.
"Don't say it. Do not fucking say it," Yusuke grits out. He crosses his arms and his eyebrows pucker into a sour expression. Koenma cackles and elbows Yusuke in the ribs.
"Why didn't you tell me about this sordid love affair? Ahh young love-"
Koenma doesn't finish the sentence. Yusuke makes sure of that by pulling hard on the toddler's huge ears. Yelping, Koenma bats his tiny hands at Yusuke, insinuations forgotten.
Kuwabara leaves the lockpick behind after a long minute of fruitless tugging. Yusuke lets out a sigh he didn't realize he was holding back. Midnight ticks closer and closer and he can feel death bearing down on his back. Sure, Kuwabara was here to save him, but damn he doesn't need to dawdle at a time like this.
Pensive, Yusuke watches on as Kuwabara bumbles around his apartment, looking for Yusuke's body. He looks awkward and so out of place here; tiptoeing looking around like any moment the cops would bust in and arrest him for breaking and entering. Yusuke hangs back behind Kuwabara, hovering and trying not to panic. Could he go any slower? Most likely, this is Kuwabara he's talking about.
"I'm dying here, you lug," Yusuke hisses into Kuwabara's ear. "Get a move on!" He says this assuming it would fall on deaf ears, but Kuwabara shivers and chooses that moment to walk faster and with purpose. He chooses Yusuke's bedroom door on the first try and pushes it open with steady hands. Yusuke gulps and know he'd be sweating if he was in his body as Kuwabara walks in.
Yusuke floats in the doorway and peers in. Kuwabara has stopped short of Yusuke's bed and is standing there stock still. Letting out a strangled noise of agitation, Yusuke moves in to look at Kuwabara's face. And maybe give him a verbal lashing for hesitating at the worst possible moment. He stops short when he sees Kuwabara's face. His eyes are wide and from the indents on his cheeks Yusuke would say he's biting the inside of his mouth. Yusuke feels a jolt run through him when he sees that Kuwabara's legs are shaking. It's taking all of Kuwabara's willpower not to bolt right there and then.
"Shit, shit. Shit. Okay, dude, I know this is freaky as hell, but," Yusuke swallows. "I need you to do this. Please." He wills for Kuwabara to hear him, to understand him. So Yusuke reaches out and grasps Kuwabara's shoulders with transparent hands. And prays to whatever deity will hear him that Kuwabara will please, please kiss him.
The clock's hands point to the 57 mark when Kuwabara finally kneels down. He's sucking in short breaths and his face has gone pale. Yusuke doesn't know if the gesture will be appreciated, but he lays a supportive hand across Kuwabara's back anyways.
"You can do it buddy. I have faith in you," Yusuke says, a murmur in the dead silence of the room. Squaring his shoulders, Kuwabara squeezes his eyes shut and takes the plunge down to Yusuke's mouth. He misses by a mile and ends up pressing a dry kiss across Yusuke's cheek. If Yusuke wasn't hysterical with anxiety right now, he would've busted a gut laughing.
Kuwabara's face scrunches up in frustration as he raises his head up. He glares down at Yusuke's body as if it were his fault he missed.
"Goddammit, I can't do this. It's like there's an audience," Kuwabara grumbles. Yusuke barks out a laugh, but he complies and turns away. Leave it to Kuwabara to get stage fright. The room feels like it's closing in and he feels dizzy. So, Yusuke closes his eyes and waits for the moment to pass.
When he opens his eyes again, the only thing Yusuke sees is tufts of bright orange hair. The hair presses against his forehead and it feels scratchy and weird. There's also the feeling of chapped, warm lips pressed on his own and. In that moment, Yusuke's knows he's back.
He knows he's staring as Kuwabara pulls away and that maybe he shouldn't be staring, because dude that's kinda weird. It's not like this kiss meant something. It was...glorified CPR. Or something like that. Yeah. But no, Yusuke's still staring and he's sure he looks as gobsmacked as Kuwabara does. Because despite the fact that it didn't mean anything, the kiss didn't feel bad.
The two of them stare at each other for a long beat, and it's like time itself decided to stop for them. Yusuke's never had the chance to look at Kuwabara's face up close like this. His eyes are this deep brown color and were his eyebrows always this expressive? And, oh shit, Kuwabara's blushing too and that light dusting of red is an attractive color on him-
And HELLO there was a road Yusuke was not intending to go down. At all. His gaze darts to the side and the moment breaks. Yusuke doesn't want this silence, doesn't want the sudden pounding in his chest, even though it means he's alive, he's home. So he musters up his courage a shoots Kuwabara a smirk.
"Cutting it kinda close there, buddy," Yusuke jibes. Kuwabara's dazed look crumbles and is replaced with his infamous scowl. Their faces are still within a foot of each others and Kuwabara's arms prop up on either side of Yusuke's face. It might not be a good idea to egg Kuwabara on when he's this close, but Yusuke will take a punch to the face over….whatever the hell that was a moment ago.
"Well fuck you too, pal!"
Kuwabara looks like he's about to knock Yusuke into the next week when someone shuffles around in the living room. They both turn to see Keiko stumbling into the room, panting and eyes wild with worry. Time seems to slow down again as she stops at the doorway and stares at the two of them. Yusuke remembers, insides churning with ice, how close he is to Kuwabara and what it looks like to Keiko. Not that it's the wrong impression, but still. He doesn't want the whole world to know Kuwabara gave him magical mouth to mouth.
But Keiko doesn't make a fuss over whatever they look like, because she burst into tears and runs over to through her arms around Yusuke. Kuwabara barely manages to move back in time before she jostles him over. Sobbing into his shoulder, Keiko clings onto him for dear life and Yusuke lets himself wraps his arms around her.
"You're back….you're back!" she whispers, tone taking a frantic edge to it. Yusuke closes his eyes and squeezes her. This was familiar. This wasn't weird at all. It felt natural hugging Keiko, like how it used to feel when he still hugged his mom as a child. After weeks of floating in limbo, it felt nice to let Keiko anchor him down to reality.
Yusuke opens his eyes for the brief moment Kuwabara excuses himself. He keeps one cracked open and trained on Kuwabara as his lumbering figure makes its way to the door and out into the night.
To Yusuke's surprise, the world doesn't change after he comes back to life. The world didn't change when he was dead either. No, life as usual kept marching on as he lay comatose for weeks. The only noticeable difference is now Yusuke's mother has been treating him like a precious stone, staring at him for long periods of time as if he would up and vanish again.
If Yusuke's being honest, he feels like he could up and vanish again. Like this new chance at life will be ripped away and he'll be forced to meet his grave.
But despite his reservations: the world stays the same. Life marches on. So on and so forth.
Even Kuwabara seems the same when Yusuke intervenes with the hoodlums that were harassing him and his friends.. He graces Yusuke a grateful smile after he passes Eikichi back, safe from harm. Kuwabara doesn't spare him another glance as he goes to help his friends kick the remaining delinquents asses. Yusuke captures that pint-sized demon and accepts his role as spirit detective.
Not much changes. And Yusuke's not sure if he's disappointed by that or not.
He goes to school the next day and as expected he's treated like a pariah by most of his fellow classmates. He tries not to be irritated by that. To them, he's a reanimated corpse. A zombie. It's weird, coming back to life. After they're given time to adjust, the other students go back to leaving Yusuke to his own devices. Just like how it'd been before.
Yusuke would be on his dying bed before he admitted that he was lonely.
Fed up, Yusuke's about to ditch school when someone smacks a hand down on his shoulder. He whips his head around to see Kuwabara standing behind him with a thoughtful look on his face. Kuwabara's hand is warm and it burns through layers of clothes right down to Yusuke's skin. Weirded out that he picked up on such a detail, Yusuke shrugs Kuwabara's hand off.
"Kuwabara," Yusuke says. He's feeling cautious now, like he can't trust himself to be normal. So he keeps Kuwabara to the side of his line of vision. As if looking at him head on would be looking at the sun. "What's up?"
Kuwabara blinks and shakes out that dreamy look on his face. "Just makin' sure you're really here." He puffs out now, squaring his shoulders back and trying to look intimidating. "Because next time you go to hell, it's gonna be me sendin' you there, Urameshi!"
Kuwabara stomps off after that, leaving Yusuke to stare after him. He feels like he's missed a huge part of that brief conversation. Kuwabara's friends trail after him and Yusuke catches one of them saying "weren't you gonna thank him for saving Eikichi?" Oh. So that's what it was about. Yusuke feels a tugging on his lungs and coughs to dislodge the thickness in it.
Okay, so the world was the same. But dammit, Yusuke is feeling different. In more than one way.
Less than a week into being alive again, and Yusuke's knee-deep into spirit detective business. Dealing with Goki and Kurama wasn't as awful as he thought it was going to be, but. His life has turned a complete 180 degrees and Yusuke's doesn't know right from left anymore. Everyone else is living as they always have though. Keiko is still strict and nurturing. A majority of his teachers are assholes. Mr. Takenaka is still the sole exception to that majority. His mom is still her lazy self.
And Kuwabara. Kuwabara's still as loud-mouthed and oafish as he's always been. Neither of them have brought up that night a week ago.
Yusuke doesn't have time to think about that though. The clock is ticking for them to find the last thief and according to Botan he's going to be the trickiest to take down.
"He's some runt named Hiei, right?" Botan's about to go into detail about their target when the door to the roof opens. Yusuke tenses up, expecting to see Keiko in the doorway.
"Yo, Urameshi," Kuwabara drawls, scratching his neck. He meets Yusuke's eyes for a moment before looking off into the distance. "Uhh, Mr. Takenaka's lookin' for you. And he seems pretty pissed. So I thought. I'd uh…." He trails off when he glances back over and spots Botan. Yusuke can feel his mouth twisting into a scowl as Kuwabara's face goes dopey at the sight of her.
"Well hello. You must be new here," Kuwabara says as he saunters up to Botan. "I would've remembered a pretty face like yours." Kuwabara's puffing up like a peacock and Yusuke makes gagging gestures behind his back. Botan giggles and supplies a polite smile.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Kuwabara! You've been through a lot with out Yusuke here-" And no. No. Yusuke is shutting down this shitfest before it has a chance to get off the ground. It's a little too late though, because Kuwabara's mouth is hanging open and his expression screams confusion. He smacks Botan's shoulder and fixes her with a glare when she has the nerve to be mad about it.
"What happened to being inconspicuous?" Yusuke mouthed at her. Botan has the decency to look bashful.
"W-well! I got a little carried away there. I'll see you later, Yusuke!" Botan escapes and Yusuke's left alone with the clean up. Freaking great.
Kuwabara's eyes are wide and his mouth is pressed into a thin line. "Uh. How the hell did she know my name?" Yusuke sends a prayer into the cosmos that Kuwabara decided to fixate on that out of all the things Botan had said.
"Oh, uh. Botan's just. Good like that. I think she's psychic or something," Yusuke says. The lie rolls off his tongue easy enough.
"So her name's Botan?" Kuwabara's face goes moony again and Yusuke resists the urge to roll his eyes. "Pretty name for a pretty girl."
"Look, don't. She's not interested. So don't, okay." Yusuke's moving to the door and ready for this conversation to be over. Ready for this conversation to have never existed in the first place. Kuwabara looks curious now and Yusuke knows no amount of praying will keep his mouth shut.
"Oh shit, dude. If she's your girl you shoulda said something."
And there it was: the infamous last straw.
Yusuke groaned and pinched the skin between his eyes. He could feel a headache coming on from this nonsense. "I am done with this conversation. And I'm pretending that it never happened. And for your sake, I'd do the same if I were you. Or I'm gonna kick your ass. Goodbye."
Kuwabara has the nerve to snort at Yusuke's frustrations. "No need to get defensive, Urameshi."
Okay. Fine. Yusuke has time to beat the ever loving shit out of Kuwabara. It'll be like old times.
[Yusuke wins, of course. There's something gratifying about seeing Kuwabara with a nice new shiner.]
Yusuke's pretty sure the universe has it out for him. Y'know, between dying and having to prove himself worthy of coming back to life and appointed as a spirit detective against his will and all. Oh. And the fact that Hiei has decided to kidnap Kuwabara of all people and hold him as ransom for the remaining two treasures. Because. Y'know. That's Yusuke's life now.
Typical.
He's not sure he hears Botan right the first time she says Hiei's taken Kuwabara. Because well. Why? Why Kuwabara? Yusuke would've gotten much angrier if Keiko or his mom were taken. Kuwabara on the other hand is an enigma and Yusuke's just. Confused. So confused.
"Dammit, this is such bullshit," Yusuke seethes as he and Botan approach the warehouse Hiei is hiding out in. "It's not like I can leave him either. I kinda owe him…."
Botan shrugs. The briefcase containing the treasures bounces against her knees. "I guess Hiei grabbed the first friend of yours he could get a hold of?" she offers.
"He's not my friend!" Yusuke insists, shoving his hands into his pockets. They curl up into fists as he tries to maintain his composure. "We're not that close. I just owe him for the….you know."
Botan smiles and Yusuke hates the catty edge to her mouth. "Perhaps you two are closer than you think." Screw that. Yusuke opts to ignore her as he storms off ahead.
The lighting in the warehouse is dim, but Yusuke can make out the figures of humans lined up at the door. They move towards him and Botan in short, jerky movements. Freaking predictable, and Yusuke does not have time for this. He sends them falling to the ground and he can't be bothered to feel sorry for them when Botan confirms that they're normal human beings. Albeit ones under mind control.
Botan's forehead scrunches up in concern as she looks over the now unconscious goons. "Yusuke be careful, I think Hiei might have use of the evil eye-"
"You're more observant than you look."
For such a shrimp, Hiei has a huge ego. He goes into a monologue but Yusuke can't pay attention to the words he's saying. Not when two goons walk into view, dragging Kuwabara by the arms. His face is puffy and covered with bruises that Yusuke knows he didn't give to Kuwabara himself.
Friends or not, this doesn't sit right with Yusuke. Rage burns hot through his body and he looks at Hiei straight on with what he hopes is a nasty expression.
Hiei smirk, nonplussed by Yusuke's intimidation tactics. "Interesting. You're still sane after looking into my evil eye. Your partner here was the same way. He was particularly difficult to subdue-"
"Wait, hold it," Yusuke says, previous anger coming to a halt. What had Hiei referred to Kuwabara as just then? He can feel his eyes bulging out a bit.
"What?" Hiei looks as baffled as Yusuke feels.
"What did you call Kuwabara just now?"
Hiei blinks. "Your...partner?"
Yusuke can feel his eye go a bit twitchy.
"...Your significant other," Hiei offers.
He doesn't like where this is going. Yusuke grits his teeth into a grimace.
"Your mate-"
Okay nope. Nope. Stop the bus because Yusuke's getting off right now.
"He's not my-" Yusuke pauses to take a deep breath. "I'm not gonna even explain how wrong you are. Let's settle this now." He gestures to Botan and she tosses Yusuke the treasures. "Release Kuwabara and we can pretend this never happened."
Yusuke sends the orb and mirror scattering across the floor to Hiei. They clank and clatter before coming to a stop by his feet. Satisfied, Hiei snaps his fingers and the goons let Kuwabara drop. He lands with a thud and Yusuke winces in sympathy as he lets out a pained groan. Botan rushes to his side.
Sneering, Hiei shrugs as he bends to pick the treasures up. "I'll have to thank you for saving me the trouble of taking these from Kurama and Goki myself."
Yusuke barks out a laugh. "Y'think so huh? No dice. Kuwabara's safe now. I'm gonna kick your ass and take the treasures back."
Hiei doesn't look impressed as Yusuke throws a punch. The pint-sized demon is there one second and disappears with a vague afterimage the next. Yusuke stumbles and squints around the room. How the hell was Hiei so fast? Demon bullshit probably.
"Not much of a surprise attack if you can't manage to match my speed," Hiei quips as he reappears to Yusuke's left. "Did you honestly think I'd give your mate back to you with any repercussions?" And there was that word again. Did Hiei not hear a single word Yusuke has said? Yusuke's about to ream the shortie real good when Hiei jerks his thumb at Kuwabara. "Take a look at his forehead."
Whipping their heads back, Yusuke and Botan let out similar noises of surprise as their sights land on Kuwabara. Yusuke's not sure how he missed it at first, but now he can the gash right smack dab in the middle of Kuwabara's forehead. There's no blood so Yusuke's perplexed until the gash begins widening.
"It's an eye," Botan gasps and sure enough a third eye squints out. Yusuke's hand go clammy with sweat as he sucks in a breath. What the hell was going on?
"Once that eye opens he'll have the honor of being a demon under my control," Hiei jeers.
The eye opens by a fraction when Botan leaps into action and sends energy down onto Kuwabara. The air crackles with energy as Botan struggles to close the eye. "Ugh. I can't hold this back for long, Yusuke. Take Hiei down and be quick about it!"
Hiei lifts up his sword. "The antidote is in the hilt. All you have to do is take it from me. Which I doubt you can manage-." He doesn't get to finish as Yusuke's sinking a punch into his cheek. Hiei goes flying back but rights himself before he hits the ground.
"How the hell did you...who are you?"
He's past the point of fury now. Yusuke is calm now, but he feels something itching underneath his skin. Something icy cold as he stares Hiei down. His face feels stiff but everything else feels
alive. Like there's an undercurrent of electricity surrounding him.
"I'm the one who gonna destroy you, "Yusuke says. "For what you did to Kuwabara."
Shit happens. Hiei reveals he's more fucked up than Yusuke thought he was. Kurama saves Yusuke's hide by showing up in the nick of time just to get impaled. Yusuke wins by intuition and sheer dumb luck.
Yusuke staggers to where the others are waiting for him. He's battered and bruised and has to keep a hand on the wall t keep from falling over. But he won. He won and the treasures are back in their hands and Kuwabara's going to be okay.
"How's he doing?" Yusuke asks as he reaches Botan. She's kneeling at Kuwabara's side with the empty antidote flask in her hands.
"Kuwabara will be fine," Botan says with a tired smile. "The third eye is closing." Yusuke breathes a sigh of relief.
Kuwabara looks peaceful now as he sleeps. Cracking a smile, Yusuke feels relaxed for the first time this week.
It would've been a nice moment if Kuwabara hadn't ripped out a snore that rivaled a fully grown bear.