Yusuke was angry when Shuichi joined him and his girlfriend Keiko the next day for breakfast. Word had spread quickly through the school that Shuichi was Kurama and the faculty had caught him.

"I'm gonna beat up the bastard who dobbed you in," Yusuke said venomously.

Shuichi looked up from his bowl of cereal. "Please do not do so on my account. Things could have turned out a lot worse for me."

His mother had called him the night before and it had been a very difficult conversation for Shuichi. Hiei had, as soon as Shuichi's phone had rang, left the room so Shuichi could speak to her in private. Shuichi was grateful for the other boy's unexpected consideration. His mother had not been angry but had expressed disappointment in him, which was somehow worse. He knew his actions, however well-intentioned, had caused her more stress and that had been exactly what he'd been trying to avoid. After he'd hung up, he'd had a very sleepless night.

"Yusuke's just mad because now he has to do his own homework," Yusuke's girlfriend Keiko said. "Which he should have been doing from the start." She glared at him.

Yusuke waved a piece of toast at her. "Well, not all of us are geniuses like you and Shuichi here."

Irritated, Keiko swiped at his hand and he hurriedly retracted it, not wanting to lose his toast. "If you put some effort in you might be surprised by what you can achieve," she told him.

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "You sound like that old hag," he said.

"Well, maybe you should listen to her, then," Keiko snapped. She gathered up her tray and stood up. "Bye, Shuichi," she said, pointedly ignoring her boyfriend. She flounced away, skirt swaying. Yusuke watched her leave, obviously admiring the view.

Shuichi couldn't believe the two were a couple. They seemed like complete opposites. Keiko clearly saw something redeemable in Yusuke, though. She was unwilling to give up on him, no matter how many times he disappointed her.

"I'm still gonna kick that jerk's arse when I find out who it is," Yusuke told Shuichi.

Shuichi shook his head, knowing it was pointless arguing with Yusuke. Once he made up his mind to do something, he did it, for better or worse.

Yusuke stood and headed in the direction of the bins, followed by Shuichi. They both deposited their trash in the bins and set their trays on top.

"You gotta go see the old hag after class, right?" Yusuke asked. "Good luck, man."

"Thank you," Shuichi said. "I think I may need it."

Yusuke clapped him companionably on the shoulder before leaving him.

-0-

Vice-Principal Genkai's office was small. Her desk was much tidier than Koenma's, papers neatly stacked.

Shuichi was startled to see that another boy was already present when he arrived, seated in one of the chairs. He looked just as confused as Shuichi felt.

He had bleached hair styled into a pompadour and his frame was bulky. Shuichi was sure he'd seen the boy around but couldn't remember his name.

Genkai addressed the boy, gesturing at Shuichi as she did so. "This is Shuichi Minamino, top student and in his spare time, criminal mastermind."

Shuichi sighed. He felt that she was being a little overly dramatic.

"This," she said, turning towards Shuichi, "is Kazuma Kuwabara, who is currently flunking my science class."

The two boys looked each other over. "Hey, you're Urameshi's friend," Kuwabara said. "He never mentioned you were Kurama. I'm his roommate." He stuck out his hand and Shuichi shook it. His manner was friendly, contradicting his thug-like appearance.

Genkai cleared her throat and both boys turned back to her.

"Mr. Minamino, you will be tutoring Mr. Kuwabara for the next three weeks," she informed him. "If Mr. Kuwabara can pass his next science test without cheating, no further action regarding your recent misdemeanours will be taken and your record will remain clean."

Kuwabara looked alarmed. "But I'm terrible at science," he protested. "Even with Minamino helping me, I'll never pass."

Genkai frowned at him. "You might be surprised at what you can achieve if you actually bother to try," she told him.

Shuichi resisted the urge to laugh. It sounded very much like what Keiko had said to Yusuke that morning.

Shuichi thought it shouldn't be too hard to tutor Kuwabara. The boy was in the year below Shuichi, along with Yusuke, so he had already covered the material they would be going over.

"I'll do it," Shuichi said descisively.

"I know you will," Genkai said, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. "Now get out of here," she ordered. Both boys rose, Kuwabara preceeding Shuichi out the door. Shuichi felt relieved. His punishment wouldn't be so bad after all.