Kurama, for the first time in a very long time, wasn't quite sure what to say. Yusuke Urameshi stood facing him with a pointed glare and matching teeth. Behind him, an expressionless Hiei had drawn his sword. The silence between them all threatened to drive the fox insane.
He could not speak. He had no words.
He could only look at Yusuke with pleading eyes. Don't, they begged. Calm down. Kurama willed his lips to move. Finally, he formed a coherent sentence. "I apologize, Yusuke. I didn't mean to startle you," he began, holding his hands up in surrender. Yusuke's gaze softened and his eyebrows arched upwards curiously. Kurama continued.
"With how little control you have over your energy at this time, it's overwhelming to me, as well."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yusuke asked curtly, cutting him off.
Hiei gave a snort from behind them. "Fool," he muttered, ignoring a glare from the fox. "Kurama is not submissive by nature, but your energy calls to him." The detective turned to gaze at him just as he flashed his wicked smile.
Still, Yusuke didn't understand. What did that have to do with a kiss? A kiss which, though light, he could still feel burning the skin of his shoulder. It terrified him.
Three things happened then that further confused the detective-turned-demon. He felt panic rise within his chest again, his ki spiked, and a low moan reached his ears from where Kurama sat on the bed. When he looked, the redhead was sweating and he wore an unusual expression that Yusuke couldn't place. "What's your deal? Are you okay?" Yusuke stepped forward, arm outstretched, but Kurama raised a hand against him.
"Don't, Yusuke. You don't understand what your energy is doing to me." The detective frowned. "Am I hurting you or something? Damn it, Kurama, just tell me what's going on!" His ki flared again, causing his friend to flinch away with a gasp. Whatever the hell was happening here, Yusuke didn't like it one bit.
So he tried hard to calm himself down. Slowing down his breath (after realizing he had started panting again), Yusuke settled himself comfortably on the floor, in between the two demons. He knew Hiei still had his sword aimed at his back, but felt confident he wouldn't use it unless Yusuke asked for it.
"Okay guys, this whole tension thing is cute and all, but can one of you vague motherfuckers just come out and say what the hell that kiss was about?" He glared up at Kurama, who had regained some of his composure. The weak smile on the kitsune's lovely face was enough to make the teen feel incredibly guilty. Of what though, he didn't know. "Damn it!"
Yusuke's outburst caused even Hiei to groan. "Stop that!" The fire demon snapped. He abruptly appeared in front of the teen, arms clenched tightly to his side. His sword had been discarded somewhere. "Tame your ki, detective, before Kurama and I are writhing on the floor!"
Writhing? The word brought an odd blush to Yusuke's cheeks. Why did it sound so dirty coming from Hiei's stupid mouth? "I...damn. I'm sorry. I don't understand what's going on. Just how many times am I gonna have to apologize tonight?" He took his head into his hands, partly to hide his flushed face. Writhing...the way Hiei said it... Had it been...sexual?
A new impulse swelled inside him, one that caused his whole body to tremble. Yusuke ached to be inside of something so badly...
His ki answered his impulse with a sweltering wave that left the other two gasping for air.
"Fuck! I have to get out of this room. Kurama! You deal with this," the fire demon snarled the order at his partner and then vanished without another word.
Yusuke had raised his head at Hiei's rage, but now that he was gone, his eyes fixed on Kurama. He stared and stared until the kitsune shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Staring is quite rude, Yusuke," he muttered softly. The teen, however, hadn't seemed to notice his words. His gaze became heavier as he stood, now peering down.
"What's happening to me? I know you know. Don't feed me bullshit." None of his usual playfulness lingered in his voice. Kurama noted how determination had set upon the youth's face. He would not escape giving an explanation.
Conceding, the fox nodded. "Your demon energy is bursting through your skin, Yusuke. It wants to be satisfied, one way or another." Yusuke shook his head. "Not good enough. Satisfied by what?"
At this, Kurama couldn't help but hesitate. Another wave of agitation rolled off of the spirit detective's body, and the older boy had to bite down on his lips to keep from moaning. "It wants either blood, sex, or both," answered Kurama truthfully. Yusuke's determined face fell; he had not expected that.
"My own energy and body, respectively, respond to that. It's not something so easily done, I admit, although with you I am not surprised. I've always found you attractive, even simply as a human."
By now, Yusuke's earlier flush had faded. His face was pale, and he had a distinct realization that had he still retained a pulse it would be thrumming under his skin. How could this be? Kurama attracted to him?
Another question occurred to him then...it sent chills down his spine. "Could this happen with any demon, then?" He ran a calloused hand through his thick hair to brush it out of his eyes with a hollow laugh. "Is every demon gonna be after my dick now or something?" How absurd! Disgusting, even! However, when it came to Kurama..."I'm not gay," Yusuke whispered in response to his own thoughts. "I've never thought about a guy...that way."
The kitsune shook his head in an amused fashion. "It has nothing to do with being gay. Most demons think nothing of sexual orientation the way humans do. It is only a matter of attraction, a compatibility between energies. For example, my preference seems to be hotheaded fools." A joke seemed fitting, if only to lighten the air. "I enjoy a challenge. To be perfectly honest, I only indulge in weaklings when there is a benefit from it."
Yusuke's head swam with this information. Kurama was suddenly sharing so much, almost too much, that he needed to sit down.
"As far as your earlier question goes, there are no doubt others besides myself who would enjoy your company in their bed." The teen wanted to interject, to ask who, but the fox spoke on. "But as I keep reminding you, Yusuke, you will gain control over these things. You have suddenly become thrust into demonhood with little understanding of the nature behind it. But you will learn."
Letting Kurama's words sink in took many moments. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, several times but nothing came of it. Eventually his brown eyes settled upon the carpet of his friends bedroom, and he asked the only question he could think of at the moment. "What time is it?"
The redhead relaxed, having expected the teen to lash out again. Glancing at the clock, he mechanically uttered "two thirty in the morning" before lying back on his bed with a sigh. Exhaustion began to set in, his eyes fluttering shut and his breath slowing. He thought perhaps the teen was also tired, as he had gone quiet. Then a small voice whispered, so very softly that Kurama almost believed he had imagined it.
"I'm attracted to you, too."
Eyes more vibrantly green than ever snapped open, though he dared not move. "What?"
"I said, I'm attracted to you, too. It's just that... There's someone I love." Kurama couldn't believe what he had heard. Could he be dreaming? Of course they all knew Yusuke loved Keiko. And why not? She was very pretty, charming, and had just the right amount of spunk to keep Yusuke in his place. However, no one ever heard him admit it out loud. The teen must have realized this too, for he sounded sad and lost.
Despite his protesting body, Kurama sat up to face his friend dead on. "There is also someone I love. I believe he loves me too, in his own way," he admitted, albeit shyly. Like Yusuke, he had never spoken the words out loud. "But he knows what you are going through, just as I do. We want to help you. At least, I want to. I suspect Hiei simply wants to see why you're so interesting to me."
If Yusuke was surprised by his friends confession, his face did not reveal it."You and three eyes, huh? Kuwabara owes me some money." As quickly as the sadness had entered his soul, it seemed to dissipate, and now he was laughing with his whole body. Infectiously laughing, because before he could object Kurama was laughing along with him.
The laughter died out slowly, leaving both of their energies light, airy, and almost at peace.
Uncharacteristically, Yusuke brought back the seriousness of their earlier conversation. "So, what you're saying is, my choices are fuck around with someone or possibly go homicidal?" His fox friend gave him a grave nod. "Yes. We weren't expecting you to have so much energy left after your last battle. It's overcompensating for it's awakening. Chances are, if we are lucky, this will pass once your body adjusts."
The dark-haired teen gave this some thought. "Well, I can't see myself going over to Keiko's place and demanding some action." He placed a hand on his cheek, reliving every well-deserved slap she left there. "And I also don't see the point in killing anything, unless you have someone in mind?" Kurama gave him a sharp look, as if killing something was the furthest thing from his thoughts.
"Okay, okay, yeah. I get it. Killing isn't what I want to do anyway."
The atmosphere in the room changed subtly, little hairs on the back of the kitsune's neck rising at the implications. Yusuke's eyes boiled into his skin, bringing back the sheen of sweat on the older boy's body. The body that Yusuke currently eyed cautiously.
He hadn't noticed before but Kurama was in nothing but a thin white t-shirt and cotton pajama bottoms. He looked so convincingly human, but still delectable all the same. When had Yusuke begun to salivate? When had Kurama started to look so perfectly fuckable? Demon blood mixed with raging hormones, he guessed?
A long, pregnant pause filled the room. The tension came again, both boys uncomfortable. Yusuke struggled to reign in his ki that seemed to have a mind all its own. His hand too, longed to reach out and run through the kitsune's silky hair. In opposition, every instinct in his mind told him to run. He couldn't stop this. His body had claimed too much control. The teen's eyes widened fractionally, ready to run, when finally Kurama stood. Yusuke instinctively took a step back.
A warm ki reached out and practically nuzzled against his own. It was tentative, gentle, and far weaker than anything he'd ever felt from his redheaded comrade, though something about it left Yusuke dizzy.
"I'm not going to do anything to you that you don't want me to," Kurama assured him. "Your energy begs for release; I only mean to give it a way without senseless bloodshed." The energy that touched his had been a distraction, no doubt, for then soft hands rested upon Yusuke's bare shoulders.
Kurama was close to him. Then dared closer. So close Yusuke could nearly taste roses. Their chests touched. His ki burst out in surprise and Kurama, Yoko friggen Kurama, moaned against him with a tremble. Elegant fingers wound into Yusuke's hair, crushing their bodies together.
The detective couldn't move. He couldn't breathe, so torn between wrapping his arms around the deceivingly delicate looking boy or shoving him away entirely.
Lost in his own thoughts Yusuke failed to notice the kitsune leaning his head down to place another featherlight kiss on that same damn shoulder, inhaling the intoxicating scent of Yusuke's blood. "You smell of the finest wine I have ever tasted," he murmured, "so rich and regal." Where soft kisses had touched, teeth sank into the youth's shoulder. Rather than grunt with pain, Yusuke moaned when he felt the kitsune's tongue lap up the blood that pooled there. Blushing furiously, the detective turned his head to glare at the wall.
He certainly had not expected to moan.
"Kurama, you're my friend. Friends don't-I can't..." Even to himself, his half-assed argument fell flat. The hands on his shoulders slid down with ghostly pressure, roaming his chest. One long finger brushed against Yusuke's nipple and a growl ripped through him at the unexpected pleasure. Kurama paused to guage his friend's expression.
"I will stop, if you ask me to."
Yusuke could only manage to shake his head. Don't stop.
A/N: Thank you guys for the follows, and a special thank you to my lovely reviewer! More to come soon!