Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or the characters

Welp…you probably won't believe this, but after years since I started this story and couldn't figure out where I was going, last night at midnight, the whole story got planned from this point on until the end. Sure, there, could be some filler chapters, but basically this whole story's outline was written two nights ago and the scenes in my mind that started this story have been fit in. So now I'm excited because this plot is more than I had years ago…XD Funny how that works out. I edited last chapter. Not much changed other than I had to fix a glaring flaw (mainly Shuichi's age when his dad passed because of discussion in Chapter 1, implying that he was a little older than two when his father passed). Only changed two lines very slightly, so no need to go back. He was still around maybe three instead of two, so he remembers a little bit more, but barely.

And I really didn't need to write a long paragraph about that last part, but oh well XD

Onward!

The next morning yielded its own set of surprises.

First of all, it was completely white outside, but at least the power was back. The snow showed no signs of slowing down, though plows were out. Shuichi grimaced as he looked out for he and Botan would need to unbury her car as well as his. That was certainly going to be a good time, he though sarcastically to himself. He wished the snow had slowed for he would have been out there taking care of it now before Botan would awake.

The night before, they had both been up so late just talking about how he felt like an outsider in his own "home," and Botan had seen everything he normally kept hidden from anyone else. A fond smile touched his face when he thought of how panicked she would get from pointing these things out. He found her sincere honesty very attractive, but she feared it and kept trying to take things back. She was his girlfriend. She had every right to make those remarks. If anything, it showed him that she knew him well and could discern him from his mask. His mother was right. He could never let her go.

Shuichi thought back on how the rest of the night played out. After the power had been cut, he had suggested to Botan staying with him for the night. She had agreed, but once they were in his room she was so panicked. He had coaxed her over to his bed, gotten her to lie down on one side. He took the other and then wrapped his arms around her. Botan's frame was tense as anything, but he just whispered in her ear, loving words and random topics, and she eventually relaxed in his grip. After letting his hands innocently explore her, she had finally fallen asleep, and Shuichi followed suit.

Now, he was awake and making breakfast. His mother had those dishes with the lids that would keep the food warm until Botan was ready. He hadn't wanted to wake her. She looked too precious, cute, and beautiful while she was sleeping that he was reluctant to disturb her. He had to admit, though, that it was the best feeling in the world to wake up with Botan in his arms. He hoped they could do this more often, though he would not force his desires on the woman. He would simply let the chips fall where they may.

Secondly, when he was finished making breakfast, his phone rang, and he froze when he heard the sound of Yusuke's ringtone. A sigh escaped him as he answered. "Yes?"

"Wow, someone doesn't sound happy," Yusuke joked before his voice shifted to suspicion. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Not at all," Shuichi replied, "however, I'm sure you will hear about this later, but Botan stayed the night. She had come to dinner and the storm came earlier than expected."

"How is she?" Yusuke's soft treble questioned.

"As well as could be expected being trapped in a snowstorm in the dark at her boyfriend's house, spending the night for the first time," Shuichi lightly answered, placing scrambled eggs on the dishes with some sausage.

"So pretty crappy," Yusuke huffed. "But I assume she's better now and that you handled it or else she would have tried to text me. When she gets overwhelmed like that, she reaches out, so thanks for looking out for her."

"You don't have to thank me," Shuichi countered. "She's my girlfriend and I love her."

"Whoa, really?" Yusuke gasped, amazed, and Shuichi could almost see his comically wide eyes. "That's, oh my God…seriously?"

Shuichi smiled and shook his head. "Yes and yes," he replied, "though I will wait on telling her. After last night, I think it would overload her. We haven't been dating that long."

"Yeah, that's a good idea, but oh man," Yusuke laughed. "That's great, Kurama. I can't believe you and my best friend…that's just wild."

At the sound of his underground name, Shuichi frowned and was reminded that this call probably wasn't a social call. Something was probably going to happen soon, another fight or tournament in the underground ring. "So…what's new?"

Yusuke got quiet for a minute and then released a breathy sigh. "Yeah, okay, I forgot for a moment thinking of you and Botan. So, I got the call from Koenma on the next tournament. Guess when it is."

"You know I never guess."

"Ugh, right," Yusuke griped. "Well, the assholes scheduled it for Valentine's Day, which really sucks. I mean, Hiei'll be there, and Yukina's going to be out of town so Kuwabara will be as well. Keiko and I got into it and she decided she's going to work that day to get back at me, so I wanted to see if you're interested and if we should register as a three or four member team that day. You'll never guess what the losers are calling it."

Shuichi shook his head, nearly rolling his eyes. "I hope you're about to tell me instead of making me guess."

"Yeah, the Valentine's Day Massacre…original, right?"

Shuichi had to admit that that was pretty pathetic. Still, he had no intention of going to the ring that day. "I would register as three. I will be spending that day with Botan since it's a Saturday and we are both free."

"I'm kind of glad that's your answer," Yusuke admitted. "I figured it would be, but I had to be sure. Just know you're going to be heckled mercilessly by Hiei next time he sees you."

"How that wounds me," Shuichi said without any humor. "Do be careful, there. At least with me not present, you won't have to face Toguro's team."

"Yeah, right…we'll manage, but you're right. Definitely don't want to take on their team anytime soon." Shuichi's expression darkened. "Hey, Kurama, just do me a favor. Take care of Botan. I mean, I know you love her, so I don't have to ask, but she is my best friend. I just want her to be happy."

"I will protect her with my life," Shuichi assured him. "Goodbye, Yusuke."

He had hung up his phone so quickly before gripping the table hard. Time had been going by so quickly, and Shuichi had hardly any time to even think about underground fighting. Whatever attention he had to give, he gave to Botan after not seeing her for so long. It never occurred to him to go to the ring. That was a change.

Truthfully, Shuichi wasn't one for illegal activity, though he had his reasons for ever getting involved with the underground ring in the first place. It had all started years ago when he had met Yusuke, around the time his mother was ill. The former delinquent had been one of the few at his school to offer him to come over for dinner when Shiori was in the hospital. They had bonded easily, especially when Shuichi learned that Yusuke's mother was a lush who left her son to fend for himself. He had to admit Yusuke was a good cook, though.

He eventually met Yusuke's friend and rival Kuwabara. They enjoyed fighting all the time, and so Shuichi got into it. He could create strategies while just watching them go at it, and one day he tried to fight one of them, and it had been exciting. Shuichi's old friend, Hiei, had moved to the town with his sister, living with their aunt after their mother's passing. Hiei was angry and bitter, Rui treating him differently than Yukina. He would hang around the other three a lot, and they became their own group of loners.

One day, they came across a group tormenting some other teenagers from their school and interjected. A fight broke out, and all of them ended up going to prison. It was just for a few hours, though. Kuwabara had been the only one to call someone, his sister, who sent a lawyer their way, Koenma. The brunette had gotten them out, explaining that it was self-defense, and the other teenagers had already gone to the police to give statements to get the four out. It was when they were out that everything changed.

Koenma was a lawyer, but he was also a scout for an underground fighting ring. He had been impressed when he heard they took down a gang without any knowledge of them or training. He was also thrilled that they had left them alive for others trying to take them down may have killed them. Koenma told them to go check out some fights at this ring, and the guys figured they might as well. The man wasn't going to recruit them, but seeing the ring, that appealed to them.

Shuichi had hated his new life after his mother was married, hated having all this money given to him each week. Kazuya had been trying to buy him, he was sure, and it was driving him mad. He didn't feel like he belonged in that world and didn't like having money. When he saw the stands for bets, his green eyes had lit up, and he came up with the first gambling strategy he ever had.

Betting for the losing team.

The first few times, he bet on the team he knew would win, so that others would see he knew what he was talking about. To this day, he won every so often just to keep up the guise. In actuality, he would bet on who he believed would lose to his team. Once they started going quite a bit and actually trained, they had become pretty brutal fighters. No, the four of them never killed their opponents, or at least not on purpose in Hiei's case. It was frowned upon in the ring to take the life of an opponent. Anyway, his goal was to lure teams into a false sense of security while blowing through the money he didn't need. He would always account for what he did need before betting the money away.

He'd bet on the other team when he knew that his would win so that they would get cocky and not fight their best. When he knew his team would lose or was in danger, he'd bet on their fights so that other teams would be afraid to go up against them, effectively protecting his friends. He'd bet on other fights and win, giving the money to the rest of the team if they needed it. So far, Shuichi was never wrong on his "guesses." Yes, he never did really guess. He only observed fights and made his decisions based on previous brawls.

He didn't lie when he said to Botan that he never felt like he belonged anywhere. Where a part of him felt he belonged underground, he knew it wasn't what he wanted in life. It was just some way to pass the time, to try to ignore his other life. He could be someone totally different there. Actually, it was recommended. Everyone had to use a nickname unless they didn't care about their real name getting out. Shuichi did. His mother would not be thrilled to learn that her son had been so unhappy he turned to illegal fighting and gambling.

And so, Kurama was born, and not only him.

Yusuke had reformed his life and was no longer a delinquent. In fact, his unnamed best friend, who he knew now to be Botan, had helped him with that. His mother might have been MIA, but he still loved her and his girlfriend, Keiko, and wanted to protect all three of them, so in the underground ring he was Detective.

Kuwabara, like Yusuke, had someone to protect. His sister did a lot for him, and he knew it would anger her deeply if she learned what he was doing. Still, he couldn't let his friends go in alone, especially when some of these fighters were madmen. Also, after meeting Hiei's younger twin, he had fallen in love, and he refused to put her in danger. He became known as the Psychic, for he was the one who could tell when they were up against a malevolent team. He was basically their warning on whether they needed to fight to spar or fight for their lives.

Hiei, well, he wanted to protect Yukina, too, and he also didn't want Rui to know what he was doing. In the ring, he was known as Dragon, taken from his dragon-shaped tattoo. Shuichi had been there when he got it. Rui had grounded Hiei for a month for that one.

Footsteps snapped Shuichi out of his mental reverie, a smile gracing his features. No, he didn't need the underground ring. Sure, if his friends needed him, he'd be there, but for now he had other obligations to fulfill, namely bonding with his girlfriend. He set the dishes on the table and went to go and meet her.

Botan had been awake for quite a while. She had woken up when she felt Shuichi shift and get out of bed. Through one eye, she had watched him get up and change his shirt blushing at how toned and attractive he looked. He always wore those business-style shirts which always suited his figure making him look lithe and poised, but it did not do him justice as to what lied beneath.

Of course, Botan was not normally a girl to think of those things, especially not to someone she loved. The night before she had realized she loved Shuichi, and now she was eyeing him like he was a piece of meat. It was wrong, and she mentally berated herself for doing such a thing. She closed her eyes the second he turned around and felt him coming towards her. Her heart was racing and she was worried he'd find her awake and somehow know what she had done. But he didn't call her name or do anything but run his hand through her hair lovingly before placing a kiss on her forehead. "Rest well, beautiful," he whispered before he pulled away. She could hear him descending the stairs moments later, and when she heard him rummaging for pots or pans, she finally sat up and looked out his bedroom door. Her eyes moved to the window, and the snow was still falling. She cringed. Getting out later was going to be a hassle.

In the time that Shuichi was cooking downstairs, Botan traveled back to the other room. Shuichi had taken her clothes the night before and put them in the wash to be ready for the day, but when the power went out, they couldn't be dried. He had told Botan to wait for him as he hung up the clothes in the bathroom.

On the handle of the guest room, there was a beautiful pink sweater and a pair of black pants. It was an outfit of Shuichi's mother, and Botan felt anxious just looking at it. The woman didn't mind her borrowing clothes, but Botan felt funny. That had nothing to do with the fact that the clothes were slightly too big. In fact, Botan liked wearing roomier clothing. It just didn't belong to her. It felt wrong.

What was wrong with her, she wondered as she lied down on the bed. Why couldn't she just accept others' words and move on? Shuichi seemed to understand. He never pressured her, and he always tried to identify what she was feeling. The man made her talk about it, which is what she needed. If not for him, this would have all been bottled up inside her.

She thought about their conversation the previous night, about how Shuichi felt like an outsider and how she related to that. It made her feel completely awful for him. His mother loved him. Botan could tell when she met the woman. Still, Kazuya was…indifferent? She wondered if that was the word. He was kind, but he spoke to Shuichi like a businessman, much like her father had spoken to her. At least Kazuya was a nice businessman, Botan's mind interjected to alleviate the sorrow she felt for her boyfriend. He was so amazing; he didn't deserve to feel like an outcast.

Eventually, she heard his hushed voice, though she couldn't hear what he was saying. Someone must have called him, she figured. In the meantime, she decided to get dressed, and the conversation ended before she started descending the stairs. Moments later, Shuichi came out of the kitchen and smiled at her. A warm smile graced her features as she walked up to him, and he surprised her by wrapping his arms around her, hugging her tight. "Good morning, Botan."

The woman blushed, but she leaned her head against his chest and actually allowed herself to feel peace and comfort. "Who was on the phone?" she murmured against him.

Shuichi was surprised she heard him talking at all, but he didn't even flinch or tense. "Just a friend checking on the progress during this storm," he semi-lied. After all, Yusuke had asked about Botan and how she was doing with the storm. "Did you sleep well?"

Botan nodded against him, still not pulling away. "I was nervous at first…"

"I could tell," Shuichi whispered soothingly while rubbing her shoulders. "But that's all right. I understand, Botan. If it makes you feel any better, I'm nervous too."

Botan pulled away and looked at him disbelieving. "You?" Shuichi's lips quirked in a smile as he nodded. "But…why?"

"Because, Botan," Shuichi murmured, taking her hands in his, "you are my first girlfriend."

Her mouth dropped open in disbelief, but Shuichi's amused chuckle snapped her out of it. It was hard to believe that someone so perfect and charming could have been single all this time. "But, you…didn't you once say that girls in your school fawned over you?"

"They did," Kurama admitted, "but they never really saw me. Not the way you do." His green eyes held nothing but honesty as they captures hers. He squeezed her hands in his. "I never had interest dating then. I already told you that there were not many places I felt I belonged, and school was one of those places, and whatever women were interested in me did not make it any better. It was fairly stressful…everyone knowing who my family was, what I had. They only ever saw a rich kid, my looks, or the loner persona I put on." Shuichi laughed, confusing Botan. "Would you believe that eventually all the girls thought I was a troubled teen who needed to be saved by them and shown how to open up?"

Botan actually giggled and shook her head. "Shows how well they knew you," she countered before frowning. "I'm sorry that no one ever really tried to get to know you. It must have been tough."

"I had my few friends, so it didn't matter," Shuichi stated. "Besides, that doesn't really matter now. What matters now is breakfast. I hope you like eggs."

The two entered the kitchen and sat down at the table while engaging in casual conversation during their meal. It felt like a normal morning despite raging storm that had finally started to slow. The two were happy and spent most of the day just relaxing and watching movies. With school cancelled the next day and Shuichi's family still away because of the storm, Botan stayed over again. This time, they didn't need the terrifying wind to encourage Botan to stay with him for the night.

A/N: So, huh? Did anyone else forget about the underground fighting stuff? If you did, that's okay because that was written a while ago. But who saw it coming back? *Dances around waving arms wildly before smirking* And boy will it be a thing in this story…you'll…understand what I mean in future chapters.