A/N: Addressing some concerns some readers have had: as this is a crossover between the two series, you can expect many characters from both series to pop in and out. You will see most of the tennis teams, in some respect, and a hefty amount of YYH characters - both youkai and human - as well.
Warnings: Yaoi, shounen-ai, Boys Love - whatever you call it, it's in here.
Pairings: Main - KuramaYukimura. Plenty of side-pairs, mostly canon for YYH and the oddest assortment for PoT. In this chapter, mentions of manyxRyoma. XD
Disclaimer: I do not own.
"So, Nii-san," Suichi started conversationally at dinner one night, on one of the not-so-rare evenings his step-brother joined the family, "I heard from some not-so-reputable-but-still-accurate sources that you've gotten yourself a boyfriend?"
His parents and beloved brother choked simultaneously. It wasn't that Suichi was lacking in tact, or anything of the sort - but do you have any idea how hard it is to tease an older brother that is seemingly perfect in every way? Suichi had agonized for years over the lack of material he had at his disposal to further harass his sibling; the redhead was too pretty, too smart, and far too likable. Now that he finally had an edge on the other male, he damn well was going to use it.
"E-Excuse me?" Kurama managed out, having recovered rather quickly.
Suichi rewarded him with an appraising look and smug smile. "Oh, you know, some guy named Yukimura Seiichi? Real smart, in the tennis club, super good-looking and popular? Or did your respective fanclubs just feel the urge to randomly bond together to form the Ideal Couple?"
Kurama just stared at him in total incomprehension. Their mother, Suichi was amused to note, had recovered quickly after her biological son and was now looking rather...satisfied? His father, on the other hand, still appeared to be choking on his food. Shiori patted him absently on the back.
When Kurama looked ready to start speaking, Suichi fluidly interrupted. "I mean, not that I didn't expect it - I think everyone kind of suspected you played for the other team, Nii-san - but everyone at my school was still surprised you hooked up. They thought you had that whole Forsaken Lonely Prince thing going."
"Forsaken Lonely Prince-?"
Suichi shrugged off the pole-axed echo. "Something about how you will never be understood by the common masses or somesuch, I don't really know, Minako-chan doesn't make any sense when she goes on about it. Man, you should have seen your fangirls. There was like this three day period of depression before the club president decided that, if they all truly loved you, they would support your every decision."
"You have an organized fanclub, Shuichi?" Shiori queried gently, looking too amused for someone that was supposed to be ignorant of the matters at hand. Suichi really had to start paying more attention to his mother; she was a lot more aware than even he had realized.
"So I heard they went of over to Rikkai Daigaku Fuzukoko to speak to Yukimura in person, but were intervened by his fanclub. There was supposedly this great Verbal Battle before the two presidents came to terms with each other and decided to form a coalition to celebrate your's and Yukimura's union," Suichi continued.
"Coalition...?" Kurama echoed weakly.
Suichi nodded sagely. "If you thought their networks were impressive back in the day, you haven't seen anything yet. They even have merchandise! The black market at my school has a doujinshi of you and Yukimura-kun selling like crazy."
"Shuichi," Shiori finally said, when it looked like Suichi was done reveling in his brother's embarassment, "Why didn't you tell us you have a boyfriend? I'd love to meet him."
His father was still choking.
"Dad, really," Suichi sighed in exasperation, "Drink some water or something before you asphyxiate."
Hatanaka did as instructed. Shiori was still giving the redhead her Understanding Mother expression, so Suichi was privy to watching his brother's resolve and composure waver.
"...It's still a bit too early for you to meet Seiichi-kun, mother." Kurama relented weakly.
Shiori nodded in understanding, "I'll give you some time, of course. You mustn't rush relationships, after all." Then, without pause, she turned to her youngest son. "So what is he like?"
"Mother!" Kurama's distress was widely ignored.
"Super pretty," Suichi said after little deliberation. "I heard he's top in his class and is basically the school idol. He's in the tennis club, but its rumored he's practically captain of it; everyone tends to bow to his whim."
"He sounds rather devious, doesn't he?" Shiori mused absently.
"Very," Suichi agreed. "Even the teachers are scared of him, and I've seen what he did to a guy that tried to bully him. His fellow club members also seem to be fanatically devoted to him."
"I always knew Shuiichi would go for the clever types," Shiori said idly.
Hatanaka stared at his wife. "What?"
Kurama looked up at his step-father as if he were some saving grace. Finally, a voice of reason in this madness-
"But I could have sworn Shuiichi-kun would go more for the ditzy types!" Hatanaka said, sounding rather dejected. "I mean, he has that whole prince-like persona down, and don't those types like the air-headed ones?"
Kurama's hopeful expression fell.
Shiori giggled. "But Shuiichi has always prized intelligence over looks, dear."
"Besides, 'Nii-san hates the dumb types. He always looks like he's about seconds away from snapping someone's neck if they ask him a stupid question." Suichi added.
Hatanaka nodded. "No wonder you always give Shinagawa-san the cold shoulder; he always was a bit dopey, wasn't he?"
"Really, Shuiichi, there's no need to sulk," Shiori chided gently, but Kurama could see the laughter in her eyes. "Aren't you just happy you have everyone's support?"
"I bet Yusuke-san nearly died of laughter," Suichi noted.
Kurama stared at the table. "I'm just surprised there isn't a betting pool over this."
The other male members of the Hatanaka-Minamino household froze in associative guilt. Shiori gave her son a wide, cheshire-like smile. "I always knew you'd go for the clever types, Shuichi."
"Mother!"
"Ojiisan," Echizen Ryoma, Seigaku's ace and current junior, intoned calmly from his stool at the counter, "Isn't smoking while cooking illegal?"
Really, he didn't know why he and Momo had such bad luck in finding ramen restaurants. That first one where the cook had tried to get all their money was bad enough, but now they had been reduced to ramen stalls with lousy customer service. It wasn't that the food was bad - in fact, the ramen at this particular stall was the best Ryoma had ever had - but the cook's mannerisms left something to be desired. Then again, the same could be said for Ryoma's attitude.
"I can always stub it out on your face, you pissy brat!" Urameshi Yusuke growled at his most irritating but loyal customer. From the very first time the cocky tennis player had come to his stall, he'd been a nonstop source of complaints, but Yusuke could respect the attitude; the kid never backed down or cringed, even if Yusuke tried to hit him with a cooking pot.
"Where the hell is that guy with the spiky hair anyway?" Yusuke asked. The older boy had a better attitude and more practice at reigning in the younger one's mouth; he always saw them together.
Ryoma just shrugged.
Yusuke snickered. "What, he dumped you? And you've come to seek comfort in my delicious ramen?"
"It would only figure that your ramen could be eaten when someone is in depression."
Snarky little bitch, Yusuke thought fondly with a roll of his eyes.
"Maybe if you fixed that attitude of your's, you'd be more popular with the girls," Yusuke pointed out.
Ryoma snorted.
"Or guys," Yusuke corrected absently. The boy probably swung that way, anyway; the one time a female customer tried to hit on him, she'd been immediately shot down when she said she couldn't play tennis. The kid had weird standards.
"Does your ramen always take this long to cook?" Ryoma bit out in annoyance.
Yusuke rolled his eyes, spooning out the house special ramen into his lone customer's bowl. "Only because I want to enjoy your delightful and warm company for as long as possible."
"Tch. Should have figured you were a pervert."
"At least I'm getting laid!"
Someone cleared their throat nearby. Yusuke's head shot up with a bright smile at the familiar redhead, eyes gleaming with defiance. Ryoma just ignored the newcomers with practiced ease, slurping away at his ramen.
"Is that how you talk to all of your customers, Yusuke?" Kurama asked, looking amused as he took a seat at the counter. Yukimura followed shortly after, claiming the seat on the redhead's left and glancing over the menu in curiosity - it was his first time at a ramen stall.
"Just the ones that are near and dear to my heart," Yusuke replied, flicking some green onion's into the boy's soup. Ryoma glared up at him venomously, but upon finding the flavor improved, went back to eating. "Besides, the kid is being more bitchy than usual today. I think his boyfriend dumped him."
Ryoma almost choked.
Yukimura looked over, eyes widening marginally. "Echizen?"
This time, Ryoma did choke.
"Eh? You two know each other?" Yusuke asked, more interested than he really should be. Kurama sent him a warning glare, but the look went ignored. "You know, for being such a brat, you have some interesting connections."
Ryoma glared over at him before turning his eyes to the Rikkai student. "Yukimura-san," he paused, trying to recall the manners his mother had beat into him. "You look well."
"They say love makes you look good," Yusuke crooned.
At that, Ryoma's eyes turned to the redhead. "Oh. The senpai were saying that Yukimura got a boyfriend."
"They what?" Yukimura's voice dropped into the freezing temperatures. Yusuke practically felt icicles erupt along his spine.
To the former detective's surprise, the cold reaction went ignored by the younger boy. He looked almost...used to it. (The thought scared him more than his mom's and Chu's drinking games.)
"Do you play tennis?" Ryoma asked, golden eyes trained on the redhead.
"No," Kurama answered.
It proved succinct enough. Ryoma turned away, clearly losing interest in the conversation at hand. Yukimura looked deep in homicidal thought, Kurama laid a placating hand on his boyfriend's shoulder, and Yusuke was putting out his cigarette with his heel.
"You gonna introduce me to your boyfriend now, Shuiichi, or should I just wait until you guys finish having eyesex?" Yusuke asked.
Kurama rolled his eyes, but Yukimura turned to face him with a cheery smile that almost made Yusuke forget the murderous look on the boy's face mere seconds previous. Damn, the people Kurama knew were scary!
"This is Yukimura Seiichi," Kurama introduced, hand sliding down from the youth's shoulder to curl around slender fingers. "Seiichi-kun, this is Urameshi Yusuke - a very good friend of mine."
"Shuiichi-san says your ramen is the best around," Yukimura said.
Yusuke grinned. "Damn right it is!"
"You have to watch him cook it, though, or he might put out his cigarette in your food," Ryoma added in.
Yusuke half-heartedly pelted a radish piece at the boy. "Just shut up and eat, you annoying prick. You won't get the boys if you're a twig all the time!"
"I don't want to be all loose skin like you, ojiisan," Ryoma snipped.
Affronted, Yusuke pelted a fish cake at him.
Yukimura chuckled demurely. "Echizen is actually very popular among his senpai, though." Ryoma twitched in annoyance. "From what I've heard, he's confessed to quite regularly."
Ryoma looked as if he'd bitten into something sour. Yusuke burst into laughter at his expression; the scene was priceless and now he had more embarrassing ammunition to hit the kid with.
"I never figured you'd be so popular, what with that bratty attitude!" Yusuke chortled.
Yukimura chuckled, "I think Seigaku has a bit of a brat-fetish."
"And Rikkai has an S&M fascination," Ryoma returned easily, turning to look Kurama in the eye. "I hope you're good with whips."
To the tennis players' confusion, Yusuke just laughed even harder as Kurama turned an interesting shade of red.
A/N: Just to be clear - Kurama taking Yukimura to Yusuke's ramen stand IS NOT their first date! Their first date goes unwritten in this chapter, but I may bring it to writing in later chapters. I will be writing about later dates they have, though, so get ready for a romance overload.
And this fanfic will not feature a YusukexRyoma pairing. Although, now that I've denied that, I have this insane urge to write it. Dammit.
