A/N: Thanks for the reviews, loves! 8) On some concerns readers have had:

-OF COURSE Yukimura will eventually find out the truth about Kurama! What kind of love story would this be if it was based on lies? XD So yes, there will be action later on; look forward to it~!

Pairings: (Main) KuramaYukimura. I have decided this will feature many a side pair, mostly canon for YYH (YusukeKeiko, KuwaYukina), and possibly Platinum, Golden, Dirty, and Tango. This story will also incorporate an element of a PAST HieiKurama.

Warnings: Some points are AU for both categories. (My mind seems to like occasionally blanking about Oishi attending a different high school.) I also somehow mesh YYH's anime world with its manga counterpart, so just roll with it. XD And this is obviously yaoi/shounen-ai.

Disclaimer: I do not own either Yu Yu Hakusho or Prince of Tennis.


At six o'clock in the evening, the neighborhood bookshop was a rather deserted place. It was expected, of course; most families were probably settling down to eat dinner, not perusing the shelves of the Yamazaki Books's non-fiction section. Kurama, however, wasn't planning on visiting his family this evening, and his cooking had yet to get much better than instant noodles or microwaveable dinners.

Besides, waiting for Yukimura Seiichi to finally make his move was way more enjoyable than sitting alone in his apartment.

It had been just a little over a week since the human teenager had started his shadowing of Kurama, and the redhead had been carefully calculating when would be the best time to have the boy approach him. He was thankful the teen thought far enough ahead as to not approach him at work, because Kurama wasn't too keen on his step-father seeing exactly what his previously-believed-to-be-asexual step-son was actually interested in.

Kurama knew the other boy had been looking into his background. That was a bit unsettling, not because of the rather stalker-like behavior, but because the life of Minamino Shuuichi had plenty of holes if one looked too closely.

He didn't think Yukimura had enough connections to look into his school or medical records, but it never hurt to be cautious; Kurama had gotten out of hospital visits thanks to having never fallen ill, and only really ever attended for the necessary shots. Injections, however, didn't require a medical exam; he doubted the doctor would appreciate the fact that Minamino Shuuichi didn't have a heartbeat.

His school record was an issue in and of itself. Ever since he had gotten involved with Reikai in his freshman year of senior high school, his attendance had dwindled to practically nothing. Yusuke ditched regardless of missions, but Kuwabara had been reduced to begging to re-take exams he'd missed. Kurama - a known genius in Meiou - merely made sure to take any exams before he'd be forced out on a mission, and then break into the school files so that his medical files didn't look a blank as they really were. The school nurse could hardly be expected to remember every student, and as long as the files were there, she didn't question it; his homeroom teacher, however, had a memory like an elephant and could probably note down all the dates Kurama had attended (since the number of days he had missed school far out-numbered the ones he didn't miss).

Just to be cautious, Kurama had Yukimura followed as well; his own connections were much more shadier than even a yakuza's, but that's just how things went when one was a former demon thief and retired Reikai Tantei. Yukimura had only scraped the surface of Minamino Shuuichi, and as long as Kurama kept the boy's attention on the person in the here and now and not the files, this process should be easily cleared. He'd done his own investigation on the boy, as a pre-cursor to even their first meeting - it never hurt to be too cautious.

Yukimura Seiichi. Currently 16 years old and attending Rikkai Dai Fuzukoko Senior High division. He had graduated from the junior high division in Spring, honored as the revered tennis club captain that had lead the club to winning the Nationals two years in a row, then coming in second during his third year. He had perfect grades and his teachers regarded him as a polite and courteous boy.

He'd been diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, falling into hospital care during the latter half of his junior year after having collapsed at a subway station. His subsequent hospitalization had been viewed as a dark period for the teen as he went into preparations for a surgery that had a low success rate. Yukimura, however, was extremely lucky; the operation was successful and he made a full recovery.

At least we both dislike hospitals, Kurama thought absently, keeping his face politely blank as he pulled out an autobiographical book.

"Excuse me? Are you...ah! Minamino-san, it is you!"

Kurama made sure to have a pleasantly surprised expression as he turned to regard his addressee; Yukimura, for his part, was looking perfectly astonished to see him. The fact that the boy had been following him since he left work that day was completely hidden, but Kurama tried not to remind himself of that, or he'd give in to the urge to laugh.

"I don't know if you remember me-"

"Of course I do, Yukimura-kun," Kurama interrupted gently, putting the book back in its proper place. "You're not an easy person to forget, after all."

He pulled a soft smile onto his face as the boy blushed lightly. Kurama was new to human courtship, but flirting was pretty much the same whether one was a youkai or a human. Suggestions and subtle compliments had much more luck of working than abrupt forwardness.

"Do you often come here, Minamino-san?" Yukimura asked lightly, looking politely curious.

"I'm a fan of all books, really," Kurama replied, sweeping over the couple Yukimura had in hand. Collections of French poetry, it looked like, both old and modern; interesting tastes for a teenage human. Yusuke would have used haiku collections as seat warmers before reading them, and even the studious Kuwabara never looked too pleased while studying literature. "This bookstore has a rather eclectic collection, and it never gets too crowded."

"A rare find in Tokyo," Yukimura noted in amusement.

Kurama nodded with a small chuckle. "Crowds have a certain appeal, sometimes."

"If you want to blend in, I suppose." Yukimura said, looking a bit introspective before coming back to himself with a smile.

"This is still a pleasant coincidence, though," Kurama said, glancing out the store window as if to ascertain time. "Have you already eaten, Yukimura-kun?"

Yukimura inwardly wondered if his heart could actually climb out of his throat at the subtle probe. He had not intended this meeting to be nothing but a casual run-in (he had planned another two before he actually got around to the dating idea), but perhaps he had underestimated his own appeal.

"No, not yet," Yukimura said with a small sigh. "I told my family that I was going to eat with my friend, but something came up and he couldn't make it."

The look in those green eyes were somewhat...mischievous. For some reason, Yukimura felt he had fallen into some sort of trap, but at Minamino's pleased smile, found he didn't really mind.

"That's perfect then!" Kurama said cheerfully. "I have nothing to cook at home, so I was planning on eating out. It's always better to eat with company."

Yukimura made sure to pause so it looked like he was thinking it over; it wouldn't do to come off as too eager. "I wouldn't mind, as long as you don't think I'm intruding..."

"Of course not! It will even be my treat," Kurama graciously offered.

Yukimura's smile was bright. "Then let me just buy these books..."

"Go ahead." Kurama said, before pausing in feigned consideration. He made sure Yukimura had already turned away to head to the register before adding, "This can be our first date."

Yukimura froze, head whipping around to stare at the older male in actual shock. Kurama made sure to keep the smile on his face but the seriousness in his eyes; it wouldn't do to lead the boy astray.

Yukimura seemed to waver, before nodding resolutely and turning back around with a more hurried step.

Kurama's smile widened at the blush he could still see.


Senior high school had been a strange process for most tennis players that had been involved in the junior high tennis circuit last year. Being suddenly thrust back into freshmen status had not been kind to those that had gotten used to their power, specifically those of Rikkai, Hyoutei, and Seigaku.

The former Rikkai regulars, having found their senior high division tennis club an utter sham, were working on completely revamping it; Hayashibara may be ignorant of the vipers he now found himself saddled with, but it was already too late to stop the poison from spreading. Everyone from the cringing freshmen to the belligerent seniors to the wary staff knew that Yukimura Seiichi was someone to be feared.

Atobe, of course, had merely repeated what he had done back in junior high; remodeling the school to his liking and squashing down the silly little uprisings that sometimes came when he re-ascertained his power. It probably helped that he had Oshitari on his side this time, as anyone who foolishly didn't fear his name was blackmailed into silence by the bespectacled tensai.

Those of Seigaku would have been much more gracious about their slide from power, but their own tennis captain, Morimoto Tohru, was a bully put in a position of leadership. Fuji, specifically, had not taken kindly to being ordered to "do something about that stupid homo look" he was supposedly sporting. Tezuka, one of the few capable of stopping Fuji when he entered one of his Sadistic Vengeance phases, had not even bothered to reign the tensai in; he had never been fond of bullies. (The day after the 'order' was given, Morimoto had transferred schools and Fuji had been sporting a rather damning smile as he proceeded to terrify the rest of the club into behaving properly.)

Unlike Rikkai, however, who now looked towards Yukimura for guidance, Seigaku had chosen a suitable senior to lead the club, though it was pretty much a known fact that Tezuka and Fuji ruled from the background.

Yamabuki, with Akutsu (who, to the surprise of everyone but Dan Taichi, bothered to take and pass the senior high school entrance exam) and Sengoku leading them in, had assumed control of their own tennis club. Sengoku was too friendly a guy for someone to hate, and any dissenters were properly terrified by Akutsu.

Saint Rudolph graduates went on to attend Saint Nicholas Academy, the senior division. Mizuki had easily gained control of their tennis club. Jyousei Shonan graduates Kajimoto and Wakato also entered Saint Nicholas, the former because he was interested in the manager and the latter because he found terrorizing Akazawa's budding relationship with Kaneda too amusing to leave alone.

Fudoumine's Tachibana, having no senior division to enter, had chose Midori High as his next stage and proceeded to turn another whole school into a cult. Saeki from Rokkaku had decided to follow his childhood friend into Seigaku's sacred grounds, the others scattering to other tennis clubs as per interest.

Senior high school had been a strange affair, but otherwise successful. All got to play tennis to their heart's content, order was being established, and, as always, they remained-

"Did you hear?" Kikumaru yelled, throwing open the door to the locker room. "Rikkai's Yukimura has a boyfriend!"

-a little too interested in the lives of each other.

At least both Fuji and Inui looked properly interested. Oishi's attention, however, was on the senior Kikumaru had accidentally knocked unconscious with his abrupt entrance.

"How interesting..." Fuji murmured, pulling on his uniform as he gave the red-haired acrobat a smile. "I always thought Yukimura was married to tennis."

"And get this!" Kikumaru cried, throwing his arms around Oishi in greeting, thereby distracting the other boy from his attempted resuscitation of the collapsed senior. "Supposedly, Yukimura's boyfriend doesn't play tennis!"

Inui flipped open a notebook, writing rapidly. "Ii data. Since Yukimura has shown a dedication to tennis matched by very few, the chances of coming into an intimate relationship with someone who does not play tennis is significantly smaller...my data has been put in disarray..."

"Do you know who it is?" Fuji asked.

"No," Kikumaru said sadly. "I just heard about it from Oshitari. Apparently, he had heard about it from Jiroh, who had been following around Marui again."

The door opened, just as Oishi looked ready to chide them all for gossiping about other people. Tezuka stepped in, eyes zeroing in on the unconscious senior on the floor. A miniscule frown came onto his lips.

"Fuji. Again?"


"Minamino Shuuichi."

Yanagi stared - as much as he could stare, of course, what with his eyes closed and all - at the former Regulars of Rikkai. They were ensconced in one of the empty classrooms in the after-hours of school, Yanagi manning the front of the classroom with a pointer stick and a projector displaying a blurred picture of colors.

"What the hell is that supposed to be, an apple?" Niou snarked from where he sat, slouched back and feet on the desk in front of him.

Yanagi paused. "Getting a clear picture of him has proved...difficult."

Despite Yukimura's belief in the contrary, those of the tennis circuit had indeed found out about his recent infatuation. News had traveled fast thanks to Marui's loose mouth, Jiroh's fanboy tendencies, and Oshitari's manipulations; an information network had been quickly developed and utilized.

While clear pictures of Minamino had eluded them, this was mostly due to the fact that Yukimura had taken to accompanying the other male and none dared risk getting too close in case of being found out. Luckily, Yanagi had used their connections well; Seigaku's Inui had perfected the ability to gather data on any one person, and the Hyoutei Regulars' vast fortunes had funded the mini-project.

"We really need to find more hobbies," Yagyuu mused indifferently.

"So who is this bastard?" Kirihara prompted.

"Minamino Shuuichi," Yanagi continued on smoothly, "Is an employee at Hatanaka Contracts, having graduated from Meiou Academy three years ago with top grades. With his grades, he was practically guaranteed admittance to Tokyo U, but instead he declined entering college and went straight to work at his step-father's company."

"Figures Buchou would like the eccentric genius-types..." Jackal commented.

"How did they meet?" Sanada questioned. It was a valid one; as far as Sanada saw, Yukimura spent more of his time either on the courts or studying. Where would he have the time to meet some older stranger in order to start a relationship?

"From what Sadaharu has gathered," Yanagi replied, "Their initial meeting was at Seiichi's neighborhood store, Hanazuki Florist. Minamino appears to be very fond of plants, and approached Seiichi first."

"He's a predator!" Kirihara cried immediately, shooting to his feet. "He's going to seduce Mura-buchou into his bed and-"

"I don't really know if Yukimura's subsequent stalking make him the actual prey, though." Niou pointed out.

"-where he'll corner Mura-buchou, giving him heated eyes-"

"Akaya seems to be reading far too many romance novels," Yanagi noted blandly.

"-and he'll pin Mura-buchou down to-"

"What?" Jackal intterupted vainly, not wanting to hear the smut that was so easily rolling off his teammate's tongue. Yanagi absently covered Kirihara's mouth, patiently waiting as the younger boy blew out steam, keeping careful eyes on Sanada; the former vice-captain remained stock-still in one of the desks, apparently having never gotten over Yukimura's declaration of love a week previous.

"Is there anything else?" Marui asked, secretly just wanting to leave the meeting already. Why was he always roped into things like this? Wasn't it Seigaku that enjoyed stalking around their teammates as they went on dates? Rikkai players should be out striking fear into the hearts of mediocre players, not talking about some contractor who probably never even held a tennis racket!

"Information about Minamino Shuuichi has been difficult to come by, in regards to his personal affairs." Yanagi answered blandly, pulling away his hand when it looked like Kirihara was done ranting on the perverse world they lived in. "Despite an overwhelming popularity at Meiou, Minamino had no known intimate relationships, a trend he continued in his career field. From the information we have, it seems Seiichi is Minamino's first romantic liaison."

"...So he's a virgin eccentric genius?" Jackal queried.

"Unknown," Yanagi repeated blandly.


Hatanaka Suichi knew he wasn't the brightest student at Meiou, nor was he the most athletic, and accepted the fact that he would never be as popular as his step-brother had been (which he had decided was pretty damn lucky, because some of the things those girls had done were insane), but if there was one thing he prided himself on, it was his power to observe. He was not a dim boy by any means, and though at times he would do stupid things on impulse, he also had the ability to take a step back and just observe a situation from afar.

This ability often came in handy for him. For one, he noticed that not many people noticed the strange, tiny little creatures that flitted here and there from the shadows, all scales and sharp teeth and cackles. He also happened to notice that his neighborhood grocer had three horns on his head and blue hair, which he had found strange, because when they had first moved in he was balding and very human. He also saw that the plants that grew under his step-brother's care flourished with an unnatural energy, and that sometimes Shuuichi's friends would glow with an aura that made his skin prickle.

Suichi didn't question it, because when he started to see these things, he wasn't scared so much as he was filled with a feeling of deja vu. It figured as much, of course; from the way his older step-brother would look at him sometimes, that weird "dream" he had had back when he was still a senior in junior high was starting to seem a lot more like reality. Figuring this out lead Suichi to a new conclusion: his dear older step-brother had some pretty severe insecurity issues. From the way their mother doted on them, Suichi found it strange; she'd love them both even if she learned they had massacred entire cities on whim.

This skill of observation, and at least two years worth of watching spirits and demons wander around and sharing this world with their mostly-ignorant human counterparts, made picking out the dozen or so people stalking him rather easy.

It had been unnerving at first. Suichi tried to recall any altercations he had been in recently, but none came to mind; he was remarkably well-behaved, and as far as he knew, he'd never offended anyone from Rikkai Daigaku. The fact that there was always a couple of people from Seishun Gakuen or Hyoutei Academy along with his Rikkai stalkers made him all the more wary. He had allowed the stalking for a week, just to see what would happen; they always left him when he reached a block away from his home, but otherwise shadowed his movements whether he went to the arcade with his friends, did some grocery shopping for his mom, or even to the aikido dojo he had recently joined.

Isn't Nii-san supposed to be the only one with the stalkers? Suichi groused internally, finally stopping in his trek home, taking an abrupt turn into the neighborhood park. A few kids were running around in the playground under their assorted parents' watchful eyes, and some other junior high students were wandering around, but it was otherwise rather private.

Waiting a minute to make sure the last of his straggling stalkers had joined, he pivoted and looked into the nearby bushes with a scowl on his face. "Alright, I let you have a week of this, can we stop now? Come out and we'll talk!"

Nothing.

"Come out and talk or I'm calling the police! Don't think I don't recognize those uniforms!"

That got their attention. One by one, they all reluctantly stepped out, tallying up to seven people. Three from Rikkai, two from Seishun, and two more from Hyoutei. Suichi made an internal note that they all seemed to be sporting tennis bags.

I don't even play tennis, so what the hell? he mused. "Care to explain why stalking me has become everyone's new hobby?"

A few shuffled uneasily, particularly all of the redheads. The one with the closed eyes and brunette hair stepped forward. "We apologize if our methods made you uneasy, Hatanaka Suichi-san. We were just trying to gather information that concerns a friend of our's."

Suichi almost asked how they knew his name, but they probably wouldn't be very good stalkers if they hadn't found out that much.

"You're Minamino Shuichi's younger step-brother, correct?" another boy asked, Kansai accent evident and a rather damning smirk on his lips.

Suichi stared. "Oh. Is that what this is about? Are you guys Nii-san's groupies?" he paused in consideration. "He doesn't play tennis, though."

"Is he really dating Yukimura Seiichi?" the redhead from Seishun suddenly asked, looking far too excited.

Suichi stared. "What?"

Hyoutei's redhead snorted. "You don't even know? Your brother is supposedly banging Rikkai's tennis captain-"

"Buchou isn't a slut!" Rikkai's redhead snapped, turning to his Hyoutei counterpart angrily. "Besides, if anything, I bet Buchou's banging him!"

"Minamino Shuuichi is 14.8 cm taller than Yukimura." the Seigaku student with the glasses deadpanned, flipping out a notebook he had pulled out from god-knows-where. "It is only logical that Minamino would be the 'seme' in the relationship, as the research suggests that the one with greater height would-"

"Research?" the bald one from Rikkai interrupted. "You researched homosexual couples?"

"Tezuka reads Gravitation," the redhead from Seigaku shrugged.

"Sadaharu, did you factor in Seiichi's personality? I believe the logical conclusion would be that Seiichi would top, despite Minamino's height advantage," the closed-eyed student said.

The Seigaku one with glasses adjusted his eye-wear in noticeable agitation. "I did factor in Yukimura's personality, as well as personal preferences. Renji, are you positive you did not allow your bias to cloud your objective judgement?"

Suichi could practically feel the lightning shooting between the two, despite the fact that he still couldn't see their eyes.

"As amusing as this data showdown is," the accented one interjected in a tone that suggested he wasn't amused, not in the least, "Let's get back to the topic at hand. Hatanaka-san, we are only trying to ascertain Yukimura's safety in the developing relationship between him and your step-brother."

Suichi sure as hell wasn't buying that. The Hyoutei kids seemed more entertained than concerned, while the Seishun ones just looked overly-curious; only the Rikkai ones seemed to have any personal investment in this little escapade, which was what was keeping Suichi from just turning around and ignoring them altogether.

"Why don't you just ask your Yukimura then? Or even Nii-san?" Suichi suggested.

The boys traded looks, obviously conveying through nothing more than their eyes that that was not a good idea.

Suichi snorted. "I guess Nii-san can be a bit intimidating."

Their eyes snapped to him.

"Oh?" the one with the accent queried.

Suichi paused. Should I...?

He looked at their curious, hopeful faces.

...Well, why not? "Yeah. I mean, back in junior high, there was this whole incident where Nii-san disappeared with this girl from his class, and no one heard or saw from them for two whole days. When they returned, together, the girl couldn't remember a thing, and Nii-san just told the police that they had been caught by this man but managed to escape."

"Really?" Seishun's redhead gasped, clearly liking where this little mystery was going.

Suichi nodded wisely. "Yeah. When they went to the place Nii-san had said they were held, do you know what they found?"

"...Nothing?" the one with the tan proposed.

Suichi shook his head. "No, they found the man. But..."

"But?" Rikkai's redhead prompted.

"The man was dead. He was cut into pieces!"

The more gullible ones, which was about four out of seven, screamed in appropriate horror. The two with the glasses and the one with closed eyes remained silent and skeptical, staring at Suichi. The boy could only hold it for a moment before he burst into laughter.

"Oh, you guys are good!" Suichi damn near cackled. "I tried telling that same story to Nii-san's fangirls last semester, and I don't think they heard a word! Oh! My sides," Suichi gasped, doubling over.

"You bastard," Gakuto growled.

"Are you quite done, Hatanaka-san?" the one with the closed eyes asked dryly.

Suichi waved him off. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry." He took a deep breath, not looking very apologetic at all. The redheads present bristled up in response. "So, your friend is dating Nii-san, right? To be honest, I had no idea; he doesn't like talking about his personal affairs much."

"We kind of got that feeling," Rikkai's redhead muttered.

Suichi snorted. "Believe me, you have no idea."

At their interested looks, he shrugged. "Sorry, not at liberty to say. Even I have to respect Nii-san's privacy at some points, you know?" He picked up his bag, which he had dropped at one point when he'd been laughing over their ignorance.

"Come on!" the redhead from Rikkai whined. "Tell us something!"

Suichi paused thoughtfully. "Well, if Nii-san really is dating your friend, then I'd say just leave them alone. Nii-san's a good person." If one ignored that whole random-incidents-of months-long-leave he often pulled back when Suichi had been in junior high. Luckily, he'd mostly gotten over that nerve-wracking phase.

"Oh, but a word of advice!" Suichi said cheerfully, cutting through the dark grumbles the other teens had been starting in on. "Don't piss him off. Nii-san gets damn scary."

Yes, his brother had not taken to being roughed up well. After Suichi had managed to convince him to accompany him to the arcade, they'd stayed for hours before going back home well after the sun had set. A couple of men had been trying to come-on to Shuichi while making threats at Suichi. To be honest, Suichi had no clear idea what happened; one moment he was being shoved up against the wall, and the next he had watched as his brother dragged the two men into the darkened alley way, coming out moments later with a genteel smile on his face.

(When he'd told Kuwabara-san this story, the carrot-top had cringed knowingly. "They probably pissed blood for days," the older male had commented. Suichi had nodded in solemn agreement.)

The teens just looked at him skeptically. Suichi just shrugged and turned, raising a hand in a silent farewell as he strode away.

Let them find out on their own, then, Suichi mused. All foxes need to play once in awhile. (1)


A/N: I've seen Kurama's step-brother's name written many different ways, but just to make it simple for everyone, he will be written as "Suichi" for this story, since Kurama is mostly written as "Shuichi" from certain characters' viewpoints.

(1) Suichi doesn't actually know (for sure) that Kurama is a kitsune; he's merely saying that his fox-like brother needs some form of amusement. Or something to that effect...

To tsub4aki: Ryoma will appear very soon, because he's also my favorite character. (Originally, my YYHxPoT story was going to be KuramaRyoma, but I couldn't find a connection to link them...so it changed to KuramaYukimura via gardening. XD) Try to content yourself with the bit of Seigaku in this chapter; I promise I'll work Ryoma into the next chapter. With Yusuke in the same scene, because with those two it's like a Snarky Showdown.