Ah! Spring Break was nice! Though...it's kinda hard to have a good Spring Break when it's not really spring yet. ::shrugs:: Oh well! Hope you guys like Chaptah Fo'!

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, gar nicht!

- Spring Cleaning -

Yusuke tossed the small tennis ball back and forth between himself and the wall. He had a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach, and it kept him up at night. Atsuko wasn't around; he presumed she was out somewhere with her friends tossing back a few tall frosty cold ones.

He was bored, to say the least, though he didn't feel like doing anything else but throwing the ball. He was on his bed, laid out lazily. He was busy thinking, something he wasn't all that used to.

He threw the ball quickly. It bounced off the wall and shot past him onto the floor beyond his bed. He let out a huge sigh and turned around, watching the ball rolling along the floor. He rested his head on his arm and closed his eyes. Though the light was on, he was sure that he could go to sleep for just a little while.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, he felt it again, a warm tingly feeling that made him nervous. His eyes opened slowly and lifted his head. He looked around the room for something else to do, but, not finding anything useful, he turned over on his back.

He looked out the window, and up at the moon behind the building across the street. He yawned, his eyes watering, making the nearly full moon blur into a soft yellow ball. He was startled out of skin when a dark figure perched on the window sill, blocking his view.

"Oh..." he said, managing to calm down quickly. He sat up. "It's you." Hiei came forward and kneeled on Yusuke's bed. Yusuke's face was expectant. Hiei furrowed his eyebrows.

"I think Kurama's losing his mind," he told him. Yusuke looked a little surprised.

"What?"

"He's acting really weird and it's driving me to drink, I swear it."

"Well, what happened?" Yusuke asked. He turned towards Hiei fully and sat with his legs crossed under him.

"He's just...doing weird things and acting like everything's okay. I swear that fox is confused. He tells me things, but he leaves out anything incriminating. I can't figure out what it is. He needs help, that I know." Yusuke scratched his head, thinking a little before speaking.

"What'd he do?"

"Well...first off, he's acting like he's hiding something. I know it's on his mind, but he won't say anything. He's been like this for weeks, Yusuke. Then...I think it was last week or something like that...he's goes 'Hey, Hiei, tell me something. Do you think I should go back to the makai and then I said, 'what?' and he said, 'do you think I should go back to the makai to live' and I was like...just...'you stay where you're comfortable' and then he gave me this really, really weird smile and didn't talk for the rest of the night. I mean stone silence, Yusuke."

"What kind of smile....like a smirk?"

"No, it wasn't a smirk. It was...as if he was trying to smile but his face wouldn't let him."

"Forced?"

"Like he was struggling to do it." Yusuke looked down, resting his chin in his hands.

"Then what?"

"Well, today he tells me about this potion thing he made that can give him back 700 years of life if he takes it and he's doesn't know what to do so I told him I'd get rid of it for him, and he acted like it was a good idea and gave it to me and I burned it. I went to see him just now and he had another one, Yusuke. And he's looking at it and his face is serious...I don't think I've ever seen him that way before. And then he goes, 'I won't take you' and stuffs it under his pillow."

"Wait...what's the stuff do again?"

"It's complicated. Youko's live a long time and they don't die until they're over 2000 years old and by that time, they're...they're...what did he call them...?"

"Old?" Yusuke suggested. Hiei shook his head.

"No...but...they get all shriveled up and they don't really exist, but they're alive and Kurama doesn't want to end up that way. So he makes this stuff that can take his body back to the way it was 700 years ago so that when he does die, he'll still look good."

"But...won't he just keep living until he dies?" Yusuke asked. "I mean...I can't imagine someone who looks young and healthy dying of old age. He'll shrivel up anyway, won't he? Just 700 years later."

"You think he knows that?" Hiei asked. Yusuke shrugged.

"I could be wrong."

"I don't understand it either. Unless he wants to live a longer life and he lied about not wanting to be a....darnit...what did he say...?"

"Well, what else did he do?"

"That's the major stuff," Hiei said. He sat down on the bed. "He's just acting bored and tired all the time. I think he wants to go back, but he's always talking about how he loves it here. The fox is confused."

"Did you talk to him?"

"Not since earlier..."

"Oh." Yusuke yawned and looked away. "I always wondered why Kurama never really speaks about himself vainly, you know?" he asked. "If I were him, I'd act like I was the best out there, because he's pretty good at just about everything. So why's he always talking about how horrible things are and how horrible he is?"

"It may not be like that," Hiei said. "Maybe Kurama's just...thinking about his past life and talking about that one. He hasn't done anything as Shuuichi that would make him say those things."

"Yeah...I think that's it."

"You know, Yusuke... Kurama loves the fact that he's got another chance and everything to make things right..."

"So why would he want to go back to being Youko and live the life he hates so much for 700 more years."

"Maybe he's lying..." Hiei said. "Maybe he's lying to us about it."

"You think he..."

"He loves that life, that whole thief deal, and is completely bored with this one, so he's gonna go back and live it the way he wants but at the same time, is still able to live as Shuuichi." Yusuke frowned.

"That doesn't seem like Kurama at all."

"You don't spend 1000 years lying just to be bad at it, Yusuke," Hiei said. "He knows what he's doing, if that's the case."

"I really hope not," Yusuke said. He sniffed and rubbed his nose. Hiei looked up at him.

"Me too," he said.

The next afternoon, Yusuke went over to Kurama's house. He didn't expect Shiori or Kurama to be home, but he figured he'd give it a shot.

There was no answer at the door initially, and so Yusuke went down the stairs and headed off to no place in particular. But then he heard the door open. Kurama stuck his head out.

"Hello?" he asked. Yusuke turned to him, first seeing that Kurama's hair was an absolute mess. He jogged over to the stairs quickly, waving to get Kurama's attention. Kurama saw him as he came near and smiled at him. The smile made Yusuke feel odd. There was something off about it.

"Hey, Kurama, what's going on?" he asked as Kurama let him in. The living room was all out of order; the furniture was pushed up against the right wall and there was a big pile of dust and dirt in the middle of the floor.

A radio was going, sounding as if it were in the kitchen. Kurama set the broom he was holding up against the wall. He was wearing a loose pair of light gray jogging pants and a baggy white t-shirt. Yusuke had never seen him so at ease before.

"Just a little spring cleaning," Kurama answered Yusuke's question. He crossed the room and left momentarily. The radio noise ceased and Kurama returned to the room. "What brings you by?"

"Just came to see what you were up to." Kurama nodded.

"Just cleaning," he explained. "Making sure the house is neat."

"Cleaning's boring," Yusuke said, leaning against the wall with his hand in his pocket. "You wanna do something?" Kurama's face lit up.

"Sure," he said. "What do you want to do?"

"Oh, I don't know..." Yusuke said. "Anything's fine. This house is kinda stuffy. We should take a walk." Kurama nodded.

"Let me just finish up in here, alright?"

"Need some help?"

"That'd be great, thanks." Yusuke helped Kurama sweep up the dust and put the furniture back to where it was before Kurama moved it. Kurama excused himself and hurried up the stairs. Yusuke followed him. He'd gone to his bedroom. "I'll just be a moment," Kurama said, taking some clothes out of his drawer and going over to the bathroom. He shut the door behind him. Yusuke sat down at the desk.

The room was extraordinarily clean, cleaner than Yusuke remembered. Kurama must have started on his room before he cleaned the living room. Yusuke looked at the bed, neatly made. He stared at the pillows and he frowned slightly, looking over at the bathroom door.

Hiei had said Kurama didn't want to take the potion that he made. He wanted Hiei to get rid of it. Yet...Kurama had stashed more in his room. Yusuke went over to the bed and lifted the pillow.

There was the serum, in a tiny glass bottle.

Yusuke quickly reached down and took it, sticking it in his pocket. He placed the pillow down neatly and straightened it out, his eyes on the bathroom door. That accomplished, he walked over to the window and casually looked out while he waited.

Please review! And...Happy St. Pat's!

J3