Hello everyone! I actually really liked this chapter... so hopefully you guys will like it too. :) Finally diving into the story some more, and so the chapters after this one will be good ones... Make sure to keep reviewing and reading, because those keep me going. What you've got coming up is another drug scene with someone... won't tell you who. :P And then a surprise something coming as well, that I can't spoil. SO keep reading, keep reviewing! Y'all are doing great so far, and all the feedback is wonderful. :) Also, I was slightly drunk while writing this, so ignore any typos or mess ups... lol, but honestly I think I wrote better while having alcohol in me. hahahhahahaha, ok... enjoy, review, and LOVE! -Samron

"Why don't you come in, Cherry?" Simon said as he held the door open for Kurama. They walked into Simon's office, and Kurama could feel himself becoming nervous. Out of all the days for Simon to seek him out he had to be wearing the most sultry outfit. This is what he got for being carefree on a mission. He had almost let himself forget for a moment there that they were on a mission at all.

So much for having fun.

"You look so beautiful." Simon said as he stood behind his desk, and stared at Kurama.

"Thank you." Kurama tried to look flattered, and lowered his head.

"Is that a new outfit?"

"Yes. It was a gift." He smiled.

"Oh." Simon looked curious. "From who?"

"Just a guest." Kurama was still standing as Simon finally pulled out his own chair and sat down.

"Sit down." He said. Not sounding friendly anymore.

Kurama just obeyed and then realized he didn't have his mic on. It could be bad if Yusuke didn't know he was in here. But after last time he wasn't sure if he wanted Yusuke to know. He felt himself begin to sweat as he glanced over to the couch; feeling shame.

"A regular?" Simon asked again, pulling Kurama out of his reminiscing.

"I'm not sure, I've only met him once."

Simon looked at Kurama for a moment, not speaking at all. He looked suspicious and now the air was becoming tense.

"Really." Kurama affirmed his answer as he raised his eyebrows, beginning to get irritated. Then out of no where Simon lunged forward and back-handed Kurama across the face. He could have dodged it, but since he was Cherry, he had to take it. Regardless, it startled the crap out of him, and hurt like hell as his head flung to the side. He groaned out in pain as he brought his hand up to his mouth, letting the blood drip out onto his palm.

"Don't you be smart with me, Cherry. You are my favorite, but it doesn't mean you can disrespect me."

Kurama felt his rage rise, and he sat in silence for a moment so he wouldn't attack the idiot in front of him. He stared at the red blood on his pale skin, and found it humorous that the bright color match his inner feelings. Then he forced himself to sit up straight again and look back at Simon, attempting to wear an upset expression.

"I'm sorry." He said, satisfied with how pathetic he sounded. "I didn't like the gift, but the other dancers begged me to model it for them. So I did." He shrugged, trying to act like it wasn't a big deal.

Then Simon's harsh expression faltered. He looked slightly guilty now, and began to relax. He nodded a few times and then stood up, walking around his desk to stand next to Kurama.

"Why didn't you just say that?" He asked as he knelt down next to Kurama, picking up his hand with the blood on it.

"I was embarrassed."

"You don't have to be embarrassed around me, Cherry." He said as he grabbed a handkerchief out of his blazer and dabbed up the blood on Kurama's hand. Kurama watched and then looked up to Simon forcing himself to smile. "Besides. I think we already past the point of being embarrassed around each other, huh?" Simon chuckled as he motioned over to the couch with his head, while smirking confidently.

Kurama felt his stomach twist, and had to swallow the urge to bite Simon's nose off. Instead he chuckled shyly, and lowered his head. "Yes, I guess you're right." His lip hurt every time he smiled, and his head was now ringing. Simon had a strong right hook.

"So, you don't know the name of the guy who gave you this outfit?" Simon asked, very sweet this time.

"I think his name was Radic, or something."

Simon looked like he was thinking, and just nodded. "Alright, thank you."

He smiled to Kurama, as he put his hand up gently on his cheek. Kurama stayed still, and really wished he wouldn't touch him, but he leaned into Simon's hand and let out a shaky breath. Simon's thumb softly stroked his freshly cut lip, then leaned in and placed his lips onto Kurama's. Right away it stung, and Kurama shut his eyes tight as Simon's tongue ran across the cut, and all over his lips. He then roughly pulled Kurama into a full kiss, and shoved his tongue into his mouth entirely. Kurama was now relieved that he didn't turn on his microphone.

Simon pulled away, then stood. "Now, I have work to do. You can go back. Tell Charlie I'm sorry for keeping you, and that you're done for the day."

Thank goodness. He definitely wasn't in the mood to fake happiness right now. "Alright." He said, as he stood up slowly.

"See you around, Cherry." Simon said as he sat back down and smiled up to Kurama.

"Okay." He forced another smile, then walked out of the office; frowning immediately. His face was very sore now, and the cut in his lip was stinging horribly. Simon probably used mouth wash or something, so after drooling all over Kurama the mouthwash was now coating his cut. Even though the minty taste and smell was nice, the way it got there and the feeling it caused, wasn't. Kurama sighed loudly as he walked down the hallway, assuming he'd been gone for about fifteen minutes. He got back to the main floor and looked around for Yusuke, but didn't see him.

"Hey." He heard Charlie say, as he walked up to the bar. She looked concerned, as he finally got close.

"What happened?" She asked as she rushed over and put some ice in a napkin, then walked over to Kurama, handing it to him.

"I pissed off Simon." He barely smirked. "Thanks." He said as he took the ice and placed it on his lips.

She looked upset. "I bet he said to tell me sorry, and to give you the rest of the day off?"

Kurama's eyebrows went up. "Yeah."

She smirked. "He always does that after hitting the dancers."

"So, he must do this a lot then?"

She just rolled her eyes, and nodded. "Yup." Then began to wash the counter tops. "I'm sorry that happened to you."

Kurama just shrugged, wanting to forget the whole situation.

"Oh, by the way, Yusuke was freaking out and ran off some where. He was really worried about you." She smirked.

Kurama felt his stomach get warm, and even though he wasn't smiling, he definitely was on the inside. At the same time he also felt guilt, he probably should have turned his mic on... but he was extremely glad Yusuke didn't have to hear that. So he wasn't sure which would have been the best decision... this struggle was frustrating.

"I guess I'll go find him." He said as he stood up, and walked off. He looked around the dressing rooms, and then walked back to their bedroom. When he found it empty he got worried that Yusuke had gone to do something stupid, so he turned around and began walking back towards Simon's office.

"Kurama!?" He heard Yusuke whisper harshly, from behind him.

He turned around and felt relief when he saw Yusuke walking up the hallway. He quickly put his finger up and shushed Yusuke. Even though he enjoyed hearing his real name said after so long of not hearing it, they couldn't afford to get caught.

Yusuke ignored his reprimand and furrowed his brow when he finally approached Kurama. "What the hell did he do?" He asked as he reached up and lightly touched Kurama's face.

He pulled away and tried to look confident for his teammate. "Nothing, he just got irritated."

"Nothing?" He hissed.

"Yusuke. It's fine."

"You worried me. Did you forget to turn on your mic?"

Kurama wondered if he should lie... telling the truth was just so much harder right now.

"Yes. I did."

How was it so easy for him to lie to Yusuke? It was so wrong, and it just made him feel more guilty than before.

"What happened in there?" He asked, sounding less upset this time.

Kurama sighed. "I just got snippy with him, so he hit me. He was asking about my outfit, I think he got jealous."

Yusuke frowned and then took a moment before speaking.

"Jealously is good. That means he likes you, which means you'll be able to get closer to him and we'll be able to get out of here faster. But he shouldn't be fuckin' hitting you. God, what a fucker." Yusuke snorted as he looked around and then slicked his hair back in frustration.

"I'm fine. It's good anyway, it makes him feel more in charge. I've had worse, you know that." Kurama smiled, and lightly grabbed Yusuke's arm trying to distracted his stress.

Yusuke looked back to Kurama, and stared at him. Finally hearing what he said. "Yeah, you're right I guess. I just feel bad not being there with ya."

"Don't... feel bad, Yusuke." That just made Kurama even more guilty.

"I'm tryin' not to. I just feel like you're doing all the work, and I'm just sitting around doing nothing." He sounded pretty frustrated by now.

"You're doing plenty. Don't worry. If you weren't here I think I'd be going crazy right about now. I need you to keep me in reality."

"Yeah, so I'm the wife to consul you when you have a bad day at work."

"Yes. You're a very good wife." Kurama chuckled as he patted Yusuke's arm.

Yusuke just sighed again in frustration, but then chuckled as well. "Fine. I'm the bitch in the relationship, only because you're working harder. You lucky jerk."

Kurama smiled, and then followed Yusuke as they walked back to their room.

He could tell Yusuke was irritated about the entire situation, but what could he do to console him? Nothing! And that really made him pissed off, because he knew he was emotionally the strongest one of the team and even though Yusuke seemed tough and hardheaded, he was weak. It made Kurama envious at the same time, though... he envied the vulnerability that Yusuke was able to show, and the fact he could relate so well to others. That was a talent, and Kurama assumed he'd never be able to do such things. He had already blocked most of his emotions while growing up. He would always regret that, but what could he do about it now?

Once they arrived to their room, and the door was shut, Kurama ripped his shirt off and threw it to the ground. The damned outfit got him in much more trouble than he could have imagined, so he didn't want to wear it ever again.

"This thing..." He mumbled as he had a difficult time pulling off his pants. Then he almost fell over as he finally got them off entirely, throwing them next to the shirt. He sighed as he stared at the stupid pair of pants, and was pissed they were ever on his body in the first place.

Then he heard Yusuke snicker, and looked up in surprised. "What?" He smiled, and then flinched because it hurt his cut.

"That was just, so... ungraceful."

Kurama stared for a moment, and then become unable to speak. It wasn't everyday that someone could take Kurama off guard the way Yusuke did, and unfortunately he did it a lot.

Yusuke laughed quietly again and put his hand up to his mouth. "I think, you made my day."

Kurama just rolled his eyes and then turned to the desk and pulled his comfortable, baggy, sweat pants on. After being in those leather pants far too long the sweat pants felt amazing. Then he turned around smoothly walking up to Yusuke, purposely swaying his hips a little extra. Yusuke stared up at him, with a little hesitancy in his expression.

"How's this for graceful?" He said as he reached over and quickly grabbed Yusuke's ear, twisting it back roughly.

"GAH!" Yusuke yelled out in pain as he quickly pulled away from Kurama, now laughing very loudly. "Fuck you! That hurt!" He was laying on the bed holding his ear.

"I'm sorry, what?" Kurama said as he held his hand up, threatening to grab his ear again.

Yusuke put his hands up in surrender. "OKAY! Okay! You're so graceful! I don't even know what I was talking about! Mercy! Mercy!" He laughed, and then pretended to choke out some sobs.

Kurama smirked, and then crossed his arms in victory. "That's what I thought you meant." He chuckled as he went to his bed, sitting down and finally realizing how tired he was. The day had just caught up to him... and it was only six in the evening. Dancing started at eight, so maybe he could get a nap in. His smile faltered, and then he sighed.

"Hey."

Kurama looked up.

"You're doin' great." Yusuke said, with a very confident, and kind smile.

He stared at his teammate, and felt grateful for his presence. If only he was able to convey to Yusuke how much he helped. "Thank you. That means a lot."

"Well, it's true." He said as he lay on his back. "You're awesome at this shit. Even if you pinch like a girl." He smirked.

Kurama just laughed and rolled his eyes. "Oh goodness. You've started a war."

Yusuke just chuckled.

The night passed by very quickly, and then the next day came much too fast. It was now Tuesday night, and Kurama was dressing for his first dance of the night. He heard there was some special event at the club tonight, so it was going to be extra crowded. Almost as crowded as the weekends. That was something he wasn't looking forward to, but it was part of the job so he just hoped it'd pass quickly.

"This alright?" Kurama turned to Yusuke who was adjusting his earring.

"Yeah. You've never danced in jeans before, and is that one of Haley's shirts?" He frowned with disapproval.

Kurama glared. "It's just a t-shirt, and yes it's one of hers. She let me use it because she said it's casual but has enough rips in it that I could dance with it." He mocked.

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "So you mean she's just trying really hard to make you wear her slutty shit, that you met her in the middle with this?" He said as he picked up a part of the ripped t-shirt.

"Yes." Kurama smiled, glad the cut in his lip was healed enough that it stopped splitting.

"Well, get out there. I've got a busy night ahead of me. There are already so many drunken people out there." Yusuke sighed as he slicked his hair back.

"Work hard." Kurama encouraged him.

"Back at ya!" He said as he held his hand up.

Kurama laughed as he sloppily high fived him.

"Woo!" Yusuke shouted as they both walked out of their room.

Kurama walked back stage to wait for his turn to dance. Gemmy was out there now and she was getting lots of screams and noise. She was always pretty aggressive with the men, so once she began slapping and hitting, they began yelling and becoming aggressive back. But they liked it, and she knew that. Yusuke on the other hand, hated it. It made him, and all the other bouncers stay on high alert. And usually after she danced they had lots of work to do.

"Why'd they let her go first?" Haley said as she walked over and wrapped her arms around Kurama.

"Not sure." Kurama was wondering the same thing.

"She's such a bitch. She thinks she's soooo hot." Haley snorted in disgust.

Kurama just laughed, kind of agreeing. He didn't like Gemmy too much either, but only because she made Haley cry.

"Well, you're next" Haley said, as she hugged him tight, then let him go to dance. "Good luck, beautiful!" She waved.

"Thank you." Kurama smiled to her, then walked up behind the curtains.

"It's crazy out here, just a heads up." Yusuke warned. He had told Kurama to keep his mic on as much as possible, just in case Simon popped out of no where again. And even though Kurama would rather him not always know what was going on, he felt too guilty to deny him.

Kurama took in a deep breath and sighed. "Goodie." He said with a monotone voice, not looking forward to the harassment.

"We've got your back."

"We?" He asked, wondering who he was talking about.

"Oh yeah. Bryan's here for the event. He said they needed extra bouncers, so he came in for tonight and tomorrow. Sweet huh?" Yusuke seemed pleased, and that made Kurama happy.

"Very." He smirked.

"You'll do great, I know it."

"Oh, I know I will too." He smirked, and he heard Yusuke chuckle.

The music started and then Kurama ripped the curtains opened, only to be slammed with the noise of hundreds of men screaming at him. He hated this, but at the same time his Youko side loved the ego boost. So he'd already decided that every time he was up here dancing, he'd indulge his Youko side, ...just a little bit. He walked out on the stage with a confident, and quick stride. Once he got to the front he stopped and took a moment to look throughout the entire crowd, seeing who was watching him. He made eye contact with a few men and immediately got a response from them. They all sat up straighter and began cheering louder than they were originally. He knew how to get to people, especially the people who were attracted to him. And thankfully most of these creeps were.

He quickly grabbed the pole in front of him and squatted down with the grace of a professional. Finding the eyes of another stranger, he kept them in his gaze as he slowly and gracefully stood back up, while rubbing his hand down his own back. The cheers and howls from the men in the audience were almost deafening as Kurama tried to drown them out while he continued to move. He swayed his hips in a circular motion as he walked around the pole, then grabbed it and hung his weight backwards as he looked at the crowd. His hair hung back far, and he felt someone quickly reach up and barely touch it as he stood back up. Once he turned around he saw Yusuke approaching a man who was probably the one who touched him. He smirked openly as he continued to sway his hips more with the beat of the music. Touching wasn't allowed, and the fact Yusuke was so protective of him made him happy.

Kurama continued to move with the music, and felt slightly surprised when he looked into the crowd and saw Simon watching him from the back of the room. He was wearing the same expressing as the rest of the men, lust and longing. Instead of acting timid like he normally did, he continued with his character of this dance, and locked eyes with Simon. Who looked enthralled with Kurama's performance. He lifted himself up off the ground as he kept his gaze on Simon, twisting himself around the pole. He lifted his legs up over his head, and liked the feeling of his hair falling onto the stage. Simon was watching with excitement, and Kurama was glad he had him trapped. He wasn't able to tell this entire time if Simon was interested, but due to his expression now, he knew he had him. It made him worry that he let his Youko side get so into the dance, but unfortunately the mission needed it.

He continued to dance, and the entire time he mainly kept his attention to Simon. It was important that he get close to this man, even if he hated him to the core. Kurama just kept having to remind himself that he wasn't here for himself. He was here for his home, his family, his friends... All the humans. This was important. So once he finished his dance, he snapped himself out of his cocky mood. He stood for a moment as there was now no more music, and the roaring from the crowd was all he could hear. He smiled confidently as he bowed to his viewers, and once he stood again Simon was no longer there. So he searched the crowd to find him, but instead met up with Yusuke's eyes. He stared at Yusuke for a moment, but didn't like the way he looked. Yusuke seemed troubled, but also enthralled like the rest of the men. Kurama wasn't sure how to deal with that, so he quickly turned around and walked off the stage to meet Haley.

She was clapping with enthusiasm as he walked up to her with a smile. "Wow! You are so amazing, Cherry. I'm not sure I can go on after that." She hugged him.

He was breathing hard after the dance, and as she hugged him he smiled. He appreciated her constant encouragement and wasn't shy with hugging her back. "Thank you, and of course you can. You're unique, and everyone loves you."

"Aww, thanks!" She grinned. "Better get out there!" She laughed as she walked up to the stage.

"Good luck." Kurama breathed out.

"Thanks!" She winked, and then walked out through the curtains.