Humph. I dunno if I like where this chapter goes-it took me less than a week to write it, but then forever to edit it, and I'm still not happy about it. Maybe I've got writer's block or something.
Well, if it sucks, that's my excuse. I have writer's block (even though the next chapter is almost finished-what's wrong with me?)
We've all heard the disclaimer before, and what I've said previously carries throughout the whole story. There. Disclaimers are over!!
"I'm not sure if I should ask what happened."
"Shut up, Yusuke."
"I dunno, my curiosity is starting to get the better of me."
"Yusuke, I'm warning you. . . . "
"You wouldn't beat me up!" Yusuke cried in a dramatic tone, fluttering his eyelashes in a gesture of mock-innocence. "You don't want to get in trouble, do you?" Yusuke put a hand to his heart and cried dramatically before flopping onto the floor of Kurama's room in an imitation of a beaten man.
Yuki, however, stood up, waving a fist. "You're Shuichi's friend, not to mention the Reikai Tantei," he said. "So I consider you fair game, Yusuke."
"Put it down, Yuki," Kurama said, walking into the room carrying a tray with three sandwiches. "And Yusuke, stop tormenting him. He's had a rough day." Yuki, who's face was still black and blue despite the Makain bruise cream Kurama had put on earlier, sat down, trying to force his bruised face into a scowl. "Think you can manage to eat this?" Kurama waved a sandwich in front of Yuki, who finally managed a scowl and grabbed the offered food. "I'm going to take that as a yes."
"So . . . what happened this afternoon?" Yusuke asked. "Why the hell does Yuki look like this?" He caught the sandwich Kurama threw at him and looked from stepbrother to stepbrother, waiting for his answer.
"I saved Shuichi's ass by taking a beating from these punks at school," Yuki answered. "They displaced my jaw, too." He took a bite of his sandwich and winced. "So he, in turn, saved me from being expelled by showing that I hadn't hurt anyone."
"So you're helping each other out," Yusuke said in slight disbelief. "After everything that you've fought about, suddenly a trip to the Makai and the hidden fact that Shuichi stole something from the Reikai puts it all right again."
"I wouldn't say again, Yusuke," Kurama replied. "We've never gotten along like this before. And don't ask me, I wanted to be friends from the start-Yuki was the one who had a problem with me."
"Yeah right!" Yuki retorted. "You were the cold-hearted three-year-old determined not to socialize with ningens as if they were a lower class. Unfortunately, I got grouped into that, too. You were the one who had a problem with me."
"I did not!" Kurama insisted. "You were the one always poking fun at me and making me angry."
"Only because you refused to give me the building blocks that one time," Yuki said, recalling the scene somewhat fondly. "I wanted to make me a city, and someone was hogging them all!"
"So all this time you've hated me because of building blocks?" Kurama insisted.
"That and the teddy bear," Yuki said. Yusuke, who had been quiet up until that last comment, burst out laughing. "What?"
"Geez, what a cold-hearted bastard you were, Shuichi," Yusuke laughed. "Wouldn't even share your cuddly-wuddly teddy bear with the other kids!"
"You'd do well to keep your mouth shut, Yusuke," Kurama said, suddenly wondering if this was going to go where he thought it was going to go. He hoped not.
"Oh, Yuki, I know where he keeps that teddy bear if you still want it," Yusuke said, serious.
"Ooh, where, where, where? Show me!"
"Yusuke Urameshi!" Kurama dove for Yusuke as the tantei bolted for the closet, opening the door and reaching for the top shelf before he was pulled to the floor by Kurama. The kitsune had his arms wrapped about Yusuke's waist in a ferocious bear hug and was in the process of wondering how he would manage pulling the tantei away from the closet without relinquishing his grip.
"The top shelf, Yuki, the top shelf!" Yusuke cried before turning to pry Kurama off of him. "Why does this bother you anyway? Usually, you'd just sit back and let it happen." He grunted as he pried one of Kurama's arms loose, and then lost the progress as he switched to the other-Kurama had taken advantage of the lack of attention in Yusuke's part and wrapped his arm right back around.
"He's going to make me do something really embarrassing!" Kurama cried. "I don't know what he'll do, but he'll do something!" After a few more struggles resulted in failure, Kurama tried pleading. "Onegai, Yusuke-kun, onegai!"
"Aww, so this is the little guy from so long ago?" Yuki questioned, holding out a plain brown stuffed bear in front of him. "It's so cute!" He threw the bear onto the bed and grinned at the pair on the floor. "Bonzai!" He jumped onto them, wrestling Kurama off Yusuke and holding him tightly. "Yusuke! Go get the camera! Go get the camera!"
"Right," Yusuke said, having no idea what was going on, and darted off. Kurama tried to wrestle his way out of Yuki's hold, but no avail as Yusuke came back moments later with a small black camera in his hand. "What do I do now?"
"When I say go, you take a picture of Shuichi," Yuki grunted, still trying to quell Kurama's efforts to escape.
"Oh no you don't!" Kurama yelled, and redoubled his efforts to free himself. "Yuki, don't you dare! Don't you even think about it!" As Kurama yelled various threats, Yuki wrestled him closer to the bed, where the discarded teddy bear lay. With a massive effort, Yuki threw Kurama onto the bed. The kitsune landed next to the bear, and grabbed it before Yuki could come in and make him pose in some embarassing way.
Unfortunately, that was exactly what his stepbrother wanted.
"Go!" Yuki shouted. "Hurry, Yusuke! Take it! Take it!" There was a click, then a flash, and Kurama froze in horror, realizing he had fallen into his stepbrother's trap. "All right! That was great!" The boy let out a whoop of laughter while Yusuke seemed extremely pleased with himself.
"Give me that camera!" Kurama shouted, lunging for Yusuke. He had his pride damaged enough when Hiei saw his girl routine for the oni outside of Yeirugan's palace-he wasn't about to let the little fire youkai see him cuddling with a teddy bear. Yusuke yelped and jumped as Kurama landed where the tantei had been standing a second before.
"Throw it here! Throw it here!" Yuki shouted from the other side of the room. Yusuke complied. Kurama, however, wasn't about to let his pray escape. Changing course, he lunged for his stepbrother, who danced out of Kurama's reach. "Head for the hills Yusuke, the hills!" Yusuke backed toward the door. "And get this developed!" He chucked the camera at Yusuke, who caught it and fled. Kurama, a step behind him, suddenly found the doorway blocked by Yuki. "Oh no you don't, Shuichi-kun."
"Just try and stop me," Kurama replied. Yuki pounced, and the two of them found themselves wrestling on the floor, knocking over the table they had been sitting at before the commotion started and bumping into the walls. Their fun stopped however, when a shreik sounded from the doorway.
Shiori stood there, her hands on her hips. "Is this what a study session comes to when you're able to get along?" she demanded. "Perhaps I prefer the silence!" Yuki and Kurama lay there, bodies entertwined, gaping at Shiori. Her tone was serious, but they both thought they could see a smile drifting across her lips. "Now, who started it?"
"He did," both boys answered, pointing at the other, and Shiori burst out laughing. Kurama found his feet and helped Yuki up, both of them red-faced and enjoying the lingering moments of their actions. Kurama set up the table as Yuki straightened out the pillows that had been knocked ascew when he had thrown the kitsune onto the bed. Their missions accomplished, they stared at each other as Shiori grinned and left the room.
"That was . . . fun," Kurama finally blurted.
"Yeah," Yuki said, smiling but wincing. He put a hand to his face and grimaced as it came into contact with the black and blue skin. "Shuichi, are you sure these'll be gone by tomorrow morning? They hurt like hell."
"No later than tomorrow afternoon," Kurama assured. "Although, perhaps it would be better if you looked a little bit worse for the wear when you went in tomorrow. Don't really want the teachers to see you all healed up and get on your case again."
"Yeah," Yuki said. "Thanks again, Shuichi for what you did today."
"You too," Kurama said. "Hopefully Takashi and his pals won't be in the mood to mess with us again for a while."
Yuki's hand found his face again, resulting in another wince. "Hope you're right," the boy commented. "Don't wanna go through this again." Kurama frowned as Yuki prodded different parts of his face, almost as if he were testing which parts hurt more. "What? What's the matter?"
"You . . . you've been to the Makai," Kurama said slowly.
"I thought we established this fact," Yuki teased, but his grin faded as the frown on his stepbrother's face grew deeper. "Hey, I didn't mean it that way . . . Shuichi, what's up?"
"So you must have been through worse than this," Kurama blurted finally.
Yuki paused, blinking madly as though he were trying to remember something. "Yeah, I guess you could say that," he said. "Shuichi, are you worried about me getting hurt?"
"So what if I am?" Kurama demanded. "Ever since we began getting along, I've discovered that I really care about you, Yuki. I don't want to see you in pain, I don't want to see you sad. I'll do anything to make sure you're smiling." Kurama, discovering there were tears at the corners of his eyes threatening to spill over, wiped his hand across his face.
"It sounds like love," Yuki said after a moment, his voice weak. He cleared his throat and continued. "It sounds like you're in love with me, Shuichi."
"And . . . and if I am?" Kurama choked, wiping at his eyes once more. Yuki said nothing, and this time the tears did spill over, running down his cheeks, cooling the warm, still slightly red skin. "I know it's wrong, Yuki, we're brothers, but I can't help it! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I said anything!" He was crying hard enough that tears fell into his mouth as he spoke, tasting of warm water and a hint of salt. "G-gomen nasai."
"I'm . . . leaving," Yuki said, turning his face away from Kurama and running out the door.
For the rest of the week, Kurama avoided Yuki. If they both needed to use the restroom, Kurama would forget it and hide in his room until he was sure that Yuki was gone. He ate supper early so that he wouldn't have to sit across from his stepbrother at the table. The kitsune hid himself in his room, asking Shiori not to let anyone disturb him-told her that he was studying. Even when Yusuke burst in the front door Wednesday evening, proclaiming that he had the film developed and that Yuki and Kurama just had to see this picture, Kurama didn't move.
However, on his way to the restroom, he heard them talking. "What's up with Shuichi, Yuki?" Yusuke said. "This was all in good fun, why isn't he here?" There was silence, and Kurama froze in horror, afraid that Yuki would tell Yusuke everything.
"I don't know, Yusuke," Yuki's voice was quiet, so quiet that Kurama nearly couldn't hear it. "I guess I must have said something afterwards that upset him." The eavesdropping kitsune let out a sigh in relief-his secret was safe.
"You guys should work it out," Yusuke said. "It'll be weird with you guys not talking with each other anymore. You got along really well." Kurama, peeking into the living room, saw Yusuke cross his arms in front of an upset-looking Yuki. "What'd you say to him?"
He didn't have to say anything, Kurama thought as he saw his stepbrother searching for words.
"I dunno," Yuki said. "Sometimes I say things that I don't mean the wrong way, but they come out the wrong way." He smiled, but it was obviously forced. "Listen, Yusuke, he won't talk to me. He won't look me in the eye."
"That's not like him," Yusuke said, dumbfounded that his polite friend was avoiding someone on purpose.
"I know," Yuki agreed. "So . . . if you get a chance to talk to him soon, tell him I'm sorry, all right?"
"But . . . that makes it sound like you know what upset him," Yusuke said with a frown. "Spill."
Yuki gritted his teeth. "Listen, Yusuke," he hissed. "Yeah, I know what I did. That doesn't mean I have to tell you, I don't want to tell you. I'm pretty sure that Shuichi doesn't want me to tell you." He clenched his fists. "So just drop it for now, Yusuke. And tell him I'm sorry."
You don't have to be sorry, Kurama thought as he watched his friends stare at each other in silence. I'm the one who brought it up-you just did what I expected you to. The kitsune bit his lip, feeling tears creep up on him again. Oh, how Hiei would scold him if the fire youkai saw Kurama breaking down like this. I shouldn't even feel the way I do. It's wrong, but. . . .
"Hey, is that Shuichi?" Yusuke asked, pointing. Kurama blinked and fled into his room.
"Shuichi!" Yuki yelled, and bounded after him. "Come on! We need to talk!" Yuki ran into the closed door of Kurama's room, and began to pound on it. "Come on, Shuichi, please!" As he pounded, Yusuke came up. After a few moments, the tantei began to pound as well.
"Come on!" he shouted. "You should listen to your stepbrother! This isn't like you!"
"Leave me alone!" Kurama shouted at the door.
"Well, that's a start," Yuki muttered to Yusuke outside the room. "At least he said something this time. Usually he just turns his music on really loud until I'm too tired to keep pounding."
"Come on Shuichi!" Yusuke shouted.
"Shuichi, if you don't come out, I'll show this picture to that fire youkai!" Kurama froze, horrified that Yuki would actually do that. Then again, he shouldn't have expected anything less from him. A rage built in Kurama's chest until he strode over to the door, yanked it open, and began screaming in Yuki's face as the boy fell into the room.
"So you're going to blackmail me?" he demanded of Yuki. "After all this you're just going to resort to something as underhanded as that stupid picture just to make me talk to you? I thought you had more respect for me than that, Yuki!"
"I do, Shuichi, you have to listen to me," Yuki struggled to say as he got to his feet-he had literally fallen into the room.
"Why should I?" Kurama shouted. The feelings he held for Yuki were dissolving into a boiling hatred. He forgot Yusuke was there. Later, he would question if he even really cared. "I know you don't return my feelings, I know you shouldn't, we're brothers, it's wrong to feel this way." His face was going red. "I shouldn't have said anything, but I did. You don't have to do this sort of thing to me because I did. It was a mistake, I'm sorry!" Kurama's face was red and his breath was heavy as he stared at Yuki. "I'm leaving."
"Nani?" Both of the dark-haired boys stared at him. "Shuichi," Yuki continued. "If you'd just . . . wait!" Kurama had jumped out the window into the tree. From the tree he made his way down into the yard until he was bolting and vaulting up over the fence. The scene looked familiar to Yuki-he had seen the kitsune do this before, when he had gotten Kurama in trouble for sneaking out at midnight.
"That was stupid!" Yusuke yelled. "What the hell did he do that for?" He stared at the fence for a moment, then rounded on Yuki. "What the hell went on between you two? That was completely unlike him, what the hell made him do it?" He glared at Yuki, who averted his eyes and looked ashamed. "He said something about you not returning his feelings."
"Yusuke, he was in love with me," Yuki blurted, finally breaking down. "I can't love him back-he's my brother, even if it's only because my dad married his 'kassan." The goth bit his lip, staring at the tantei who had befriended his stepbrother. "The feelings he holds for me are wrong. I can't return them."
"Oh, so this is when you care that you're breaking the rules?" Yusuke demanded. "You fight like a punk, wear makeup in school, even go to the Makai, you didn't care about that! But when it comes to this kind of thing . . . now you care?"
"Yusuke. . . . "
"I might just agree with Shuichi on this," Yusuke said. "I'm leaving, and I'm not coming back to this place until Shuichi does." Yuki stared as the tantei turned and left, holding out a hand as if he were going to pull Yusuke back.
The hand fell. "What the hell am I thinking?"