Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho (or any of its characters), Vanilla Coke, or Sprite Remix. I do own Romini's Local, Tai Masikusa and Lebiri Tatsami, however. ENJOY THE STORY!

Chapter 1

School and a Cousin

"Last period gym. Great! I hate gym!" Yusuke slipped casually out of the boys locker room and headed to the stairs leading onto the roof of Sarayashiki High School. Rambling on about the too short shorts of the gym dress code, he ran into Principal Takanaka.

"Well hello Mr. Yusuke Urameshi," the bulky man said, looking down. "I assume you...have a hall pass?"

Yusuke looked up, backed up, then began searching his pockets. "Oh yeah! I know it's here somewhere," he said, fake smile plastered on his face. After a moment, he held his hands up to reveal nothing in them and shrugged. "Guess I left it in the classroom!" He stepped around Takanaka and walked down the hall after saying, "I'll go get it! Sorry!"

"Yusuke..." Takanaka mumbled, vein pulsing. He walked down the hall and continued his search for roaming students.

Yusuke, walking away from the gym, stopped at the door to the oh-so-familiar stairs onto the roof. He looked around. 'Hall's clear', he thought before quietly opening the door and walking up the steps.

Outside, it was warm and sunny. Yusuke sat against the wall and closed his eyes, drifting into an uneasy slumber...

"YUSUKE! Get your lazy butt up!"

Yusuke blinked and rubbed his eyes as he woke up. Then he looked up into the furious, glaring eyes of...

"Oh hey Keiko," he mumbled sleepily.

Keiko knelt down in front of him. "Yusuke, get up. Everybody's going home!"

He yawned and stretched. "Whoops, missed gym. What a pity," he said sarcastically as he stood up.

Keiko did the same, rolling her eyes. She turned to leave. Yusuke put his arm around her shoulders and said, "I'll walk you home."

Keiko stopped to eye him suspiciously.

"Then we can go somewhere after that?" he continued, smiling pleasantly

After a moment of consideration, Keiko smiled up at him. "Sure", she said quietly.

Yusuke lead her down the steps, out of the school, and to her house.

An hour later, Keiko emerged from her bathroom. "Where to?" she asked the gel-headed boy waiting for her.

He beamed at her. "Nice change of clothes there!" He studied her up and down slowly. She was wearing a light pink tank top with spaghetti straps. It had the word 'Angel' in silver letters, surrounded by sparkles. Her tight, bell-bottom jeans also had silver sparkles and faded pink from the thigh down.

"Yusuke!" Keiko said in a surprised tone. She blushed and sat down on her bed next to him to pick up her purse.

Yusuke smirked.

Trying not to appear flustered, Keiko turned back to him expectantly.

"How about Romini's? You up for the Local food?" Yusuke asked, getting up.

"Mm yeah!" Keiko stood. "You know I love it!"

"And me..." Yusuke joked.

"Of cwourse I wuv my wittle Wusuke!" Keiko pinched his cheek playfully and brushed past him. She stood in the doorway, turned around to face the smirking Yusuke, and held out her arms, blocking the way out. She smiled. "You coming or what?"

Yusuke walked up to her and kissed her tenderly once, twice. It had only been two weeks since they had started going out and already he couldn't get enough of her.

Yusuke smiled warmly and took her hand. The couple left the house.

On the way to Romini's Local, Keiko said, "Mom gave me fifty dollars for food and whatever else."

"Like I didn't have it all covered!" Yusuke smiled proudly.

After putting the money in her purse, Keiko glanced over at him. "Have any moola that you actually worked for?"

"As a matter of fact, I did work!"

"Mm hm. And how much did you make?"

"Sixty bucks!"

"Impressive. How'd you do it?"

"I beat Kuwabara's gang!"

"Yusuke!"

"Hey, hey! C'mon! It was hard work chasing those wimps!"

Keiko rolled her eyes and sighed disappointedly.

"Ah, can't you take a joke! I was kidding!"

"Yusuke!" She pulled her hand from his and crossed her arms stubbornly. What a liar.

Yusuke laughed and put his hands behind his head. "Truth is, Mom made me do chores for my Grandma a few days back."

"I can't see you doing chores," Keiko mumbled dejectedly.

"Hey, I heard that! Chores aren't so bad. I actually help around the house a lot more now."

Keiko stopped walking, shocked. She cracked up a moment later. "Wait...Y-Yusuke!" Giggling, she stopped and bent over, hands on her knees, laughing loudly as she imagined Yusuke in an apron, dusting.

Yusuke blushed, annoyed. "Keiko! C'mon it's not that funny!"

"Y-yes it is!" She laughed non-stop, making Yusuke's blush intensify. He turned away from her and resumed walking.

When Keiko realized Yusuke was leaving her, she wiped the tears from her eyes and straightened as best she could. "Oooooh my stomach," she whined. "Yusuke! Wait up!"

Keiko ran up to him and Yusuke took her hand. "Oh come on. I'm getting hungry." He tried to ignore her grin and reddened face.

Eventually, they got to Romini's Local and stepped in. The couple, glad to be out of the sun and into the air conditioning, took a seat.

The Local was fairly crowded, being the day was a Friday. Teens everywhere loved to hang out there. It was a great place for gossip.

A waiter came up to Yusuke and Keiko. He handed them each a menu. "I'm Tai. I'll take your drink order first?"

Keiko beamed at the handsome blonde. "Why hellothere, Tai! I'll have a Vanilla Coke please," she said cheerfully, never taking her eyes off of him.

"Sprite Remix," Yusuke grumbled, suspicious.

Tai scribbled the orders down. "I'll return soon." He winked at Keiko with a click of his tongue, and turned to leave.

Yusuke almost fell over. He hopped up, heated. "Hey! What're doin' lookin' at my girlfriend like that," he yelled, emphasizing 'girlfriend' to get it through the blondie's head that Keiko was his.

Tai stopped and turned around, eyebrow raised. He smiled at Yusuke, a superior glint in his eye. He then lowered his gaze to Keiko, turned, and left.

Keiko, previously in an embarrassed daze, latched onto Yusuke at the last second and yanked him down into the seat. He was fuming. She hooked her arm to his and grimaced. "Yusuke, it's alright. Don't go picking fights; ignore that jerk! He's just full of himself."

Yusuke relaxed slightly and looked down at her stubbornly. She gave him the sweetest smile she could muster and leaned against him fondly. He smiled apologetically for getting so worked up and figured this was the right time for their eighth kiss… He leaned down and Keiko was about to accept when, as if on cue...

"Ahem. Here are your drinks." Tai placed them on the table and took out his pad. It looked like he was hiding a smirk. "I assume you're ready to order?"

They looked up. Flustered, Keiko took her drink and ordered. "Mmm...I'll have Romini's Original," she said.

He scribbled on his pad. "...Nice choice!" He turned to Yusuke, slowly raising an eyebrow. "And you?" he asked, kindness slipping from his voice.

Yusuke glared and said, "Just a salad."

Tai wrote it down and left.

"Yusuke. Now you're scaring me. Just a salad?" Keiko eyed him dubiously.

Just then, Yusuke spotted Kurama, of all people, passing by the Local entrance. His bangs were covering his eyes and he looked just as mysterious as always, yet strangely glum.

Yusuke turned to Keiko. "I'll be right back," he said cutting her off and running out after Kurama.

(Outside)

"Hey Kurama!" Yusuke yelled, bursting through the glass Local door.

Kurama looked up. "Oh hello, Yusuke," he said calmly.

Snickering, Yusuke looked down beside Kurama to see a beautiful young teen. Her jet-black hair fell gracefully at waist length. She had long bangs covering gorgeous, violet eyes. Almost five feet tall, she was wearing a purple kimono with white flowers. The color really brought out her eye color. She had on a gold necklace and matching earrings with a heart hanging from each.

Yusuke slapped Kurama on the back. "Got yourself a sexy chick, huh man?" he joked, chuckling.

"Actually, she's my cousin," Kurama said blankly, blushing nonetheless. "Yusuke, meet-"

"Lebiri," the girl filled in. She pushed her bangs out of her eyes, smiled, and shook his hand.

"Lebiri, Yusuke," Kurama finished.

Just then, Keiko stepped out of Romini's. "Hi Kurama," she said, then looked down at the new girl.

"Hello Keiko", Kurama said. "This is my cousin, Lebiri."

The two shook hands. "Nice to meet you!"

"So," Keiko continued, "What brings you here?"

"It's kind of a long story-"

Kurama interrupted, "We were just heading somewhere to discuss that-"

"How about my house?" Yusuke cut in. "Nobody's home right now."

"If that's truly ok with you. I'll end up telling you the story anyway," Kurama stated.

"It's fine." Yusuke turned to Keiko. "Are you coming?"

"Of course, Mr. Ruin-Our-Evening." She turned to Kurama and his cousin. "You sure we're not butting in on anything?..."

"No it's fine," Lebiri insisted.

"Let's be off then," Kurama said. He started walking. Yusuke caught up and started talking to him.

Keiko and Lebiri chatted, walking behind them.

Hiei woke up from a mid-day nap. He yawned and looked around.

The red-eyed fire demon was in a tree in a public park. Kids were everywhere, but they didn't pay attention to the human-like shadow in the tree they passed.

A bit annoyed by the shrieking children and gossiping teenagers running or sitting nearby, Hiei stretched and got ready to find Kurama, thinking, 'I need a good match. My sword skills are beginning to get rusty since that stupid Dark Tournament ended...' And he zipped away.

So how'd you like that? This is my first YYH story so I have no opinions yet! Review please! Next Chapter will come soon!

Saiya Winters