Hello again!
Just wanted to give a quick shoutout to the requestee of this story- you have been so wonderful to work with and thank you a hundred times over for it! I hope this turns out to be everything you wanted!
General warnings/disclaimer: thar be fluffy strangeness ahead. Angsty drama is at a minimum (but hey, it's me, and I wouldn't be me without a little bit of K and H butting heads), and there's plenty of third party ridiculousness. YYH is not mine, and the original author is clearly more sane than she who posted this. Now, onwards!
Contrary to common belief, Yusuke was not a fool. Well, not entirely a fool. He saw plenty, and heard plenty, and occasionally he put two and two together and found himself with a sudden and obvious knowledge of something that no one else had. Or at least that Kuwabara didn't have. Either way, whenever one of these rare moments hit him, it hit like a brick wall to the face. And, like a side effect of the brain trauma that he would have had if that did happen, Yusuke gained a dangerous determination to do something about his discovery.
Honestly, he couldn't believe how he had missed it. It had, in point of fact, been staring him in the face since the Tournament, no, before that. He had noticed it, perhaps subconsciously, upon first meeting the fox. His long hair, too perfect features, eyes that shone brighter than he had ever seen on a human. It had actually pissed him off at first, how pretty he had been. He had pushed it off after that, let it slip to the back of his mind until the tournament. He couldn't help but notice it again then, where the spectators screamed messages of hate and all eyes strayed to the mysterious redhead.
It was inevitable when the death that he had thought would claim the fox turned out to be possession. He could no longer avoid the fox's beauty; the black raven had made sure of that, lacing each of his carefully chosen words with references to how he would claim it. But it had not been only his redheaded friend, as the words slowly poisoned his mind, who he had watched through the ordeal. The threat to him had effectively shaken a number of their party.
And Yusuke had noticed.
But those days had passed, the dangers and enemies seeming distant memories. Still, if he had learned anything from the thief it was to observe, quietly, from a distance. He had been doing just that, in the crowded room full of friends and glory filled reminiscing. He hadn't realized it when he called them all together; that this gathering would no doubt bring about a serious change in some of their lives- or that he would be the catalyst- but there they were, all in the perfect positions, just waiting for someone to start the fire. He would be damned if it went unnoticed any longer.
He almost didn't have to do anything; the tension was there plain and simple. Perhaps if he had stayed out of it and let nature take its course things would have turned out differently, but hindsight was twenty-twenty and the detective wasn't really one to dwell either way. To be fair, he hadn't been privy to what was going on inside the fox's mind, just that there had been some sort of a plan, a scheme, a coercion. All he really knew was what he saw, and that was enough to spur him into action. Or at least to give them a push.
The results were… surprising to say the least. His head canon had been set; it had been fairly obvious to him where the outcome would have lain if things had gone according to his ideas. Unfortunately for him, fate was neither on his side nor on the side he had been playing for. Not that he was complaining. He was just a bit baffled. It wasn't worth thinking too much over.
It had been months since they last saw each other, the tournament having ended and leaving everyone feeling abruptly purposeless. He supposed it should have been less than a shock to him to discover that the fox was restless, but he found himself blindsided by it nonetheless. That was the real risk of it all- nothing was more dangerous than a bored Kurama. Then again, the whole thing probably wouldn't have been so damn amusing if he hadn't been. No, then it would have just been cruel.
Even so, the stars had aligned in their strange way, a mix of joyous pleasure and mischief, to bring them under the same roof, and apparently with few inhibitions. That much was apparent to the boy as he watched Kurama laugh at something said by Touya while the other redhead hung on him, an arm curving around his shoulder. The three of them looked so natural together, the fox's slight picturesque awkwardness offset by the wind master's affectionate physicality. The conversation was animated, Jin having to move as the fox did to stay attached, but stay connected he did. Touya was staring up at him bright eyed and full of wonder, his admiration free for all to see. Yusuke took the moment to be thankful- that they had all managed to come out of the ordeal not only alive, but as friends.
It had been a miracle that they had all made it that evening and he was grateful, though mostly for Kurama. He had seemed out of sorts when he first slid the door open and made his entrance, as if the human mask had been wound too tight, but he was slowly beginning to fall back into his familiarities. Still, he wasn't completely free of whatever had been troubling him when he arrived, and it didn't escape the half-wit detective. It only added to the opportunity.
Not really taking his attention off of the thief, Yusuke let his eyes wander over to the most compact, and perhaps the most surprising, guest that evening. He was huddled in the far corner, brooding, his arms and legs seeming to melt into the rest of him under the confines of his dark cloak. He had spent the first half of the evening flitting wordlessly from one side of the room to the other, looking increasingly uncomfortable as a certain aqua haired ice maiden attempted less than subtly to inch her way over to him. Her luck was on the rise, it seemed, as he stayed glued in his spot, ruby eyes trained on the unlikely threesome conversing cheerily in the crowd. Or maybe it was just one member in particular. His expression was irritated, but no more than usual, a stoic mask. It was his eyes that gave him away, their expressiveness all that Yusuke needed to see the surface of what his smaller friend was thinking. He couldn't help but grin when he saw them widen as the arm around the kitsune squeezed playfully, then narrow with clear antagonism. There was no mistaking it: his friend had it bad, but really- who could blame him?
The detective was jolted from his thoughts for a moment as a rather drunken Chuu, who he had the pretense of talking to during his bout of public espionage, landed a rather large hand on his back, laughing at a sight across the room. Kuwabara had effectively tied himself up while Rinku was trying to explain how one of his yo-yo tricks worked, amusing everyone else more than the star speckled kid. He had startled the group with a loud shout as he landed on the ground, effectively pulling the gazes of everyone in the room except for the shrimp. Remembering his objective, Yusuke turned in time to see why the room suddenly spiked in temperature: the cause being Jin's arm, which had slid down to the fox's waist as they both turned to stare at the spectacle the carrot-top was making. The brown haired boy stared openly, his façade forgotten as he watched the former thief, who seemed equally as disinterested in the fumbling as he was. Instead, his face was checked, head cocked to the side as something passed through his brain, eyes lowered but pointed. He was looking into the corner without actually looking, calculating something. Then, to Yusuke's utter and complete astonishment, he turned into the arm around him, feigning awkwardness as the wind master realized his proximity with sheepish embarrassment. There was a locking of eyes between the redheads, neither making an attempt to move, and then the temperature skyrocketed.
"Hiei-san!" The room's attention shifted. Poor Yukina had been mere feet from her objective, but now found herself being slowly led away by Master Genkai. Everyone was looking around confusedly and some a little drunkenly. Touya, who seemed not to notice his two friends' not-quite embrace, offered to fix the temperature, also oblivious to its cause. Most everyone else had taken to opening the windows and doors, some even going to far as to wander into the yard after following the old woman's lead, but Yusuke stayed planted still, shaking off the slurring Sui Ken master as he tried to pull him on.
Like hell he was going to leave just yet. The king of Reikai and an entire apocalyptic hoard could have burst through the door and he still probably would've waited to see what Kurama did before paying them any mind. He was absolutely transfixed on the scene playing out in front of him, not sure where it all was going. He didn't realize he was holding his breath until he needed to breathe.
Kurama was the first to move, taking control of the situation; although Yusuke was fairly convinced that he had somehow arranged the whole show. The fox dropped his eyes, placing a hand against the horned demon's chest delicately, but making no real effort to push himself back. The eyes watching from the corner grew, only to narrow into suspicious slits as a rosy bottom lip protruded, ever so slightly, in a troubled pout. The fox raised his gaze again, carefully meeting the red one across the way as he did, challenging. The detective could feel the thickness of the air as he inhaled, watching forcefully as the muscles in Jin's arm became tense, his face clearly conflicted and confused. Then, without warning, Kurama slipped from that hold, gliding over to the open door with an arrogant swagger that spoke of victory- over what the detective was lost. With equal grace, and cool uncaring, he tossed his long locks over his shoulder before looking back at the pair: but mostly at Jin.
"Will you follow me?" He didn't wait for a response before slipping into the darkness, but didn't need to; Jin was next to him faster than any of them expected. Touya trailed behind, his face riddled with questions. Yusuke was not much better.
A breeze whipped past the detective, leaving him alone in the room as he realized that it had been Hiei making an exit. He blinked a few times, his brain still in the process of catching up with what had just happened. Still not entirely sure, Yusuke padded over to the door and sat down, staring out at his friends, who had taken to looking up at the starlit sky with great interest. Not knowing what else to do, the detective did what he thought the redhead would have done in his position. For the first time in his life, he stopped and analyzed what he saw before making an idiot of himself.
There were some things that he did know, or at least he thought he knew, which was good enough at the current moment. Clearly, something less than pleasant was going on between his two closest demon friends. Then again, being demons, was that so strange? He couldn't help but think that it was- Kurama had never been less than friendly with their acid tongued friend. Hell, the masochistic fox even seemed to enjoy the verbal, and sometimes physical, abuse that the spiky haired youkai dealt him- even encouraged some of his behaviors. There was something innately different about this encounter, even if they hadn't spoken. The two had a way of communicating that no one else understood or was a part of, and Yusuke was sure that something had been agreed in all of that silence and staring. Even knowing this, it felt unlikely that the two had actually fought- those occurrences were few and far between, but could be sensed from miles away. Their arguments were explosive, making even the foolhardy detective want to back off and wait for the coals to cool. This had been subtle. Whatever it was, he wasn't convinced either of them knew the real reason behind it either.
Then there were the Shinobi- how they played into it was beyond him. He highly doubted that either one of the two elementals would willingly place themselves in the middle of a quarrel between the others. Though, there was no denying that they had something to do with the discretion. At least Jin had. That whole encounter had been… strange.
It shouldn't have felt so peculiar. They were all well aware that Jin was the type to be physically affectionate- the detective more so than most. Still, it had been out of place to see him in such close proximity to Kurama, who Yusuke couldn't remember having seen him talk to before. The fox himself didn't seem too fond of platonic touch- the only one he ever seemed to lay a hand on was Hiei, and the detective had assumed that it had been an attempt at getting under his skin. Unless his eyes were playing tricks on him, or Chuu had slipped something into his drink, he had been witness to an oddity. To Kurama, every action held layers upon layers of meaning; nothing was ever done without considerable intent. It was this intent that Yusuke couldn't put his finger on. Well, Kurama was a mystery- he certainly wasn't the only one who thought so.
Hiei, on the other hand, was much easier to figure out- at least as far as the detective was concerned. He had seen the evolution of his dark haired friend as the year went by from a vengeful hunter to a valued ally and friend. It didn't take a genius to see that this change had been facilitated by the fox, who had acted as a gentle conscious, quietly shadowing, but stern. The detective couldn't remember the last time he saw the fire demon alone; he was always in the presence of the flame-haired thief. He had gathered that the two had spent a great deal of time together outside of their missions, or at least compared to how much he saw the swordsman. Like it or not, the hi youkai had grown attached to the half human who had taken it upon himself to alter his entire existence. They all had; but none like Kurama.
Yusuke had picked up on enough subtleties to suggest that the fire demon harbored feelings other than friendship for their illustrious companion, but none had sent him red flags like this one- if it could even be called subtle. At first, he had kept this information up his sleeve like a hidden ace, the perfect tool to tease him about if ever he found himself in dire need of blackmail against the other. He had found it amusing back then, thinking it nothing more than a human crush. That had been before he saw the other's growth, before he realized just how damaged his friend had been in the beginning, before he knew how deep Kurama had to sink in to pull him back from it. After that, the subtle clues to his feelings made the detective feel heavy inside; as if he was sharing in some sort of burden that he could never verbalize to his friend. Now that the trials were over, he had hoped to wring his friend in- not that he had much experience with extinguishing unrequited love. They had parted ways, though, and he would be forced to move on. At least, that's what Yusuke had hoped.
It was apparent that he had been wrong, though, from the events of that evening. Hiei had been openly agitated at the touch, not even bothering to control his own energy as his emotions flared up. That alone was enough to cause the detective to marvel; the hi youkai was all about discipline. To be fair, he had been provoked.
It hit him like one of Jin's whirlwind fists. Of course he'd been provoked; Kurama was no fool after all. There was no way the fox was oblivious to the other's regard for him, not with his otherworldly astuteness. Which begged the question: why had he made such an affectionate and coy show of touching Jin? All he had succeeded in doing was making Hiei jealous.
Unless that was his endgame. If it was, he had done one hell of a job at it. The detective stared out at the redhead, as if concentrating hard enough on his image would help him make sense of everything. Kurama had relaxed considerably now that Hiei had fled the scene, which for some reason only served to piss Yusuke off. Would Kurama actually go out of his way to enflame his friend, knowing his feelings?
No, he wouldn't. Yusuke felt himself calm down as the pieces fell into place, albeit belatedly. The fox was staring into the tree line, and the detective could now see that his face had softened noticeably. His expression was worn, as if he had somehow exhausted himself. Yusuke understood then, seeing the lines on his face, that he hadn't been acting maliciously.
Yes, Kurama was well aware of how their friend felt about him. From what Yusuke could gather, though, that feeling wasn't entirely one sided. Whether it was mutual love or pure attraction, he couldn't rightly say, but there was definitely something there. Knowing Hiei, they would never move forward in their relationship, never take any steps toward a future that wasn't guaranteed or secure- let alone one that involved facing their emotions. He could see now that the fox's little stunt from earlier had been a sort of push.
Then it happened, the slight pull at his lips, the spark in his eye as the gears began turning once more and the idea fell into place. Kurama wasn't the only one who could play an angle, and for some reason Yusuke felt that it was his chance- that it was his duty- to finally put all of this information to good use.
The crowd outside began to trickle back into their rooms; Genkai had been kind enough to offer the space for a little over a week, securing enough futons and blankets for the extended stay of a small army, though no one really knew how long anyone would be there. The detective assumed that Kurama's presence that evening meant he would stay at least a couple of days, and a couple of days was all he needed. After all, if the fox's attitude from the moment he arrived meant anything, it was that he was fed up with his partner. Hiei had not yet returned, but his energy hadn't completely disappeared. He'd be back; just not before the sun rose. Two days would be more than enough.
The detective watched as Jin walked Kurama back to his room, lingering in conversation much longer than was expected of him. As Jin turned to leave, the detective met the fox's eyes. For a moment, they just studied each other, but wind master cut off their staring contest by pulling the brown haired teen back to reality with a tousle of his hair. They exchanged a few words, and Yusuke planted the first seed of his plan in the Shinobi's brain.
Oh, yes; he was going to enjoy being the one pulling the strings for once. After all, he was using his powers for good… and his own amusement. Grinning, he quietly snuck into the room he and the carrot-top shared, slipping out of his day clothes and into the covers of his futon.
Tomorrow, it would all change. Let the games begin.
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A/N: Thanks for reading everyone!
Let's bring the fandom back to life! I'm working on a series of fanfics to breathe new life into the YYH Yaoi community, but to do that I need to know what you want. So please, leave reviews or shoot me a pm with your requests! I promise I don't bite!