"Wow."

"Wow is right. They saw us comin', huh?"

"I have no idea what you mean by that; I'm too busy going wow, if you didn't notice."

Kuwabara swung halfheartedly at him.

"Shaddup."

Yusuke grinned and continued to gawk without shame. The seemingly-short span of years since the first Makai tournament had proven themselves ample time for demonic industry to get a handhold on the market. The stadium that had been erected for the first tournament had been torn down and rebuilt into a massive coliseum that reached far into the sky, glittering and impressive.

Surrounding the coliseum were shops, little kiosks, really, selling everything from food to binoculars to slaves to weapons. Entering the tournament wasn't the popular action this year – not when so much capital could be gained selling useless wares to the overeager crowds.

Yusuke was distracted by a large, tentacle-laden demon at a booth selling small, squirming animals apparently impaled alive on sharp sticks and covered in a dark blue glaze. It took him a moment to realize that the "animals" were actually very small demons.

He gave a start as Kuwabara hit him.

"What?"

"You weren't listening to me?"

"Uh, no. Come on – you aren't exactly the best conversationalist!"

Kuwabara swung at him again, but this time Yusuke avoided the coming blow.

"You keep hittin' me like that, and these demons are gonna' think I'm your bitch!" Yusuke fluttered his eyelashes as he watched his friend's face inflame. "Is that what you want, Kuwa-chan? Are you trying to tell me something?"

"S…shaddup!" the large boy bellowed. "Ass! I was only tryin' to ask you if you thought we should head to the coliseum!"

"Little use that would be."

Both boys jumped at the sudden voice, causing the speaker to smile.

"The prelims don't begin until tonight, and they aren't even allowing any potential combatants in until seven."

"Scared the hell outta me, Kurama!" Yusuke laughed. "How the hell are you, man?"

"Yeah, and how'd you know about the prelims?" Kuwabara asked.

With a bright smile, Kurama brandished a colorful flyer marked Tournament Events.

"They'll begin testing power levels at eight o'clock sharp," the pretty redhead informed them. "This year, only beings with power of A-class or above will be permitted to compete. It's a new rule put in place by the current king."

"That should cut down on the circus aspect, at least." Yusuke chuckled, snatching the flyer away.

"Testing should move along fairly quickly, and once finished, preliminaries will being." Kurama recited, watching with obvious amusement as Kuwabara tried to get the flyer away from Yusuke.

"How many they letting in?"

Kurama leaned over and tapped his index finger against one of the flyer's bulleted lists.

"Only twenty."

Yusuke elbowed Kuwabara. "Get offa me. Perv. Only twenty? Won't that piss people off?"

Kurama's eyes glowed with amusement, though he managed not even the smallest smile as he watched his two friends begin to scuffle over possession of the flyer.

"They have been planning this since virtually the end of the last tournament, Yusuke," he answered. "Even the most angry of dissenters have since resigned themselves to the new rules. Most can now even admit that it is a wise choice, as it is bound to lead to a neater, more exciting tournament. If one is not struggling to watch multiple matches at once, one can, in theory, have more fun watching the carnage."

The flyer ripped loudly.

"Damn it, Kuwabara!"

"Me?"

Kurama cleared his throat and produced five more flyers.

"I took extra."

"Bastard! Why the hell didn't you miss that sooner?"

"I was being entertained," he answered with a light shrug. "Shall we walk?"

"What are we supposed to do until seven?" Yusuke asked, falling into step beside him.

"You could do some shopping. Sample the local cuisine."

Yusuke glanced at a nearby stall, which appeared to be selling pickled phallus. He pulled a face.

"What are you gonna' do?" Kuwabara countered.

"Me? Well, now that I've seen the two of you, I'm going to return to the hotel for some peace and quiet."

"There's a hotel?"

"Indeed. I have already taken the liberty of acquiring three rooms."

"Three?" the larger redhead asked.

"Naturally."

"Is Hiei staying with you?" Yusuke questioned.

Kurama looked startled.

"Why would he do that? Hiei and I haven't so much as spoken in nearly four years."

"So you just…didn't get him a room?"

"I assume he will make his own arrangements, of course. He has left the 'team,' after all. If he had wanted to be included, I presume that he would have let me know by now."

Yusuke stared at him, but Kurama had always been impossible to read when he didn't want to be read. Those gentle eyes, that placid half-smile, the friendly tilt to his head – those things could mean anything.

"Shall we go?" Kurama asked at last.


He came up from the water with a gasp of air, enjoying the contrast of the hot Makai air and the cold water of the hotel's swimming pool.

The "hotel" was really more like a resort, with attractive demons in preppy uniforms running around tending to the every need of the guests. Kurama had assured them, when Yusuke and Kuwabara had lamented their lack of money in general, and Makai currency in specific, that their bill had already been taken care of.

Whether Kurama had graciously decided to foot the bill or the hotel had comped it due to Yusuke's contributions to the tournament, though, the tight-lipped fox refused to say.

Yusuke narrowed his eyes and glared at the seemingly-delicate redhead, who was sitting on the steps in the shallow end of the pool reading a school book. It only took a few moments for the fox to notice the glare burning into him. Bright, green eyes appeared over the top of the text.

"Yes, Yusuke?" he asked placidly.

"This," Yusuke informed him, "Is supposed to be a vacation."

"Indeed!" Kurama agreed cheerfully. "I'm ever so glad you noticed!"

"Kurama!"

Yusuke didn't get the chance to lecture. Kuwabara rose behind him from the water with a great splash, gained a headlock on the demonic detective, and fell back into the water – dragging Yusuke with him.

Yusuke swallowed several mouthfuls of water before firing a low-power rei gun blast down the other boy's swim shorts and managing to squirm away from the good-natured wrestling. He emerged coughing and trudged up the incline to the shallow end, sitting on the steps next to Kurama.

The redhead patted his shuddering back as he continued to cough.

"Fuck," Yusuke managed to announce at last, earning a quiet chuckle from his companion before Kuwabara's burnt swim trunks came flying toward them, hitting Yusuke in the head with a wet splatter and the smell of burnt cloth.

"Take that!" the large boy shouted in triumph. Yusuke scowled as he watched his friend do a nude victory dance.

"I do wonder how clean those are." Kurama mused, brushing drops of water off the cover of his book and setting it aside. He took the trunks from Yusuke and examined them, displaying the large hole burnt into the back.

"You could have hurt him," the fox scolded mildly.

Yusuke considered commenting that Kuwabara was his friend, that they had only been playing.

Then he was subjected to watching Kuwabara's "nekid cannonball of doom."

"Maybe I should have hurt him." Yusuke growled, swiping water from his dripping bangs.

"You managed to splash us!" Kurama called cheerfully. "Congratulations!"

Kuwabara laughed and flashed the victory sign before turning to clamor out of thew pool once more.

"Use the ladder if you have to do that!" Yusuke complained loudly, unwilling to subject himself to watching his friend struggle to climb, nude, out of the deep end of the pool.

Kurama nudged him, and quietly motioned to the pool gate, where a group of female demons were walking through. Kuwabara was posing for what was either a "flying phallus swan dive" or a "giant ding-dong belly flop" when they spotted him.

The fit of giggles that resulted caused his face to turn a shade of red Yusuke had never seen before.

"Urameshi! Give me back my suit!" he demanded in what was a surprisingly high-pitched tone as he attempted to cover himself, dancing from foot-to-foot. He seemed unable to decide whether to jump back into the water or make a run for it.

"But Kuwa-chan!" Yusuke called back with a pout. "I thought you gave it to me!"

Cursing, the parger boy made a run for it, ducking behind the nearest chair.

The girls, still giggling, moved to spread out their towels.

Yusuke glanced at Kurama, who, clearly amused, was watching the girls call out teasingly to Kuwabara. The detective poked his friend in the ribs.

"Hey. Seriously, Kurama."

"Seriously, Yusuke?"

"This is a vacation."

"Yes, I recognize that."

"No studying."

Kurama leaned back and retrieved his text book, carefully thumbing through the sodden pages.

"I do believe that Kuwabara has taken care oif that for me," he said helplessly, setting the book aside once more.

"I'm glad. It's good for you to lighten up a little."

"Lighten…" Kurama blinked. "Yusuke,"

"Don't give me that innocent shit. Look, I know I haven't seen you for a while – sue me later for being a bad friend – but Kurama, even I can tell that you…you're not yourself, man."

"What is 'myself?'" Kurama asked quietly.

Yusuke realized he didn't have an answer for that.

They fell silent, watching as Kuwabara scampered from the chair to a table, the table to a potted plant. The watching girls howled with laughter and catcalls as the large human boy attempted to make his way over to his friends.

"If your behavior is some stupid, introspective search for yourself, then just…just involve us, okay? We're your friends."

"I'm unaccustomed to hearing such statements from you, Yusuke." Kurama said in surprise.

"Yeah, well, we care about you, man. We'll be here for you, whatever you're going through."

Kurama stared at him, and seemed completely off guard when Yusuke pushed him into the pool.

"Just like we'll be there for you when you finally admit that you wanna be a girl and go in for that sex operation!" he teased, laughing, as his friend came up sputtering.

He really shouldn't have been surprised when the nearest potted plant reached out, wrapped a branch around his ankle, and lifted him high into the air.

As Yusuke yelled and cursed and struggled, Kurama calmly climbed out of the pool, twisting his hair to get some of the water out of it. Nonchalantly, he gathered up his ruined text book and Kuwabara's discarded bathing suit and began to head inside. He paused only long enough to give Kuwabara back his trunks.

Yusuke frowned.


"Look, just stop arguing with me, okay? I know I pissed you off."

"You are so certain in your ability to predict my every emotion? Impressive. No one else has ever gained that particular talent over me."

"You're pissed. Just admit it and let me apologize, okay?"

Kurama sighed, his back to Yusuke. They had been waiting in line to sign up for the prelims for a long time now, and this was the first time Yusuke had even gotten the redhead to acknowledge his presence.

"Kurama. I'm sorry, okay? I was just playing with you."

"You are always 'just playing,' Yusuke." Kurama answered quietly. "Did it never occur to you that perhaps I am going through some sort of personal crisis? That perhaps I do wish for the love and support of my friends?"

"Kurama…I…I had no idea…Look, man…"

The redhead turned to him and smiled, bright and cheerful.

"I'm teasing, Yusuke."

"But…but I…"

"I went inside so that I could call my mother and get some studying done in peace before preliminaries. I was never angry with you. You did not hurt my feelings. And if I haven't quite been chatty…well, it has been a long day."

The line moved forward. Yusuke followed Kurama, feeling stupid.

"But…"

"In any case, I think you would make a far better woman than I."

"Excuse me?"

"Pull Kuwabara forward a little, will you?"

Yusuke glanced down at his friend and sighed. Kuwabara was sunburned a deep, angry red and, completely exhausted from an eventful day of traveling, bickering, and playing in the pool, had fallen to sleep sometime during their long wait.

"Geez," Yusuke huffed, dragging his friend forward the few steps they had managed to move. "It's like he's a big kid or something."

"So long as you're the mother." Kurama answered, turning away once more.

"He's never gonna make it through prelims if he can't even stay awake for the line to get in!"

"Traveling through the worlds can take a lot out of a human body. Besides, he promised to, and I quote, 'severely harm, maim, decapitate, and/or injure' the both of us if he is not permitted to compete."

Yusuke snorted.


TBC

Thank you to everyone who's decided to read. Big thanks to everyone who not only read, but reviewed, too.