Dachi Part 1
Friendship will, time after time, make me recite lines in a play

Finally, it was time for lunch! Finally he could relax. Finally he could escape the weird glances he'd been receiving all day from his peers. He ran a hand through his slightly mussed, black hair as he walked down the hallway. 'Man', he thought, 'I seriously need to buy some more gel.' He continued walking for a bit longer before pausing near a moderately sized group of girls. The girls were all whispering excitedly to the girl in the center. Every little while a joyous squeal would break the relative silence. In the center of all the hubbub was Keiko.

Yusuke, who had been watching the girls practically fall all over themselves in girlish pleasure, took a step or two closer to the group and raised a hand to wave. All at once all of the girls fell silent and shuffled behind Keiko. There she stood, stock-still, before giving a little wave and blushing madly. After another second or two the girls filled in the gap between the two teens and resumed their conversation.

'Odd. She's never done that before.' Yusuke shrugged and continued on his way. Over the last half a year or so, Yusuke Urameshi had transformed himself from local bully and juvenile delinquent to the local defender of the innocents and a rather upstanding student of Kamikuzu Middle School. Gone were his days of skipping class and disrespecting his elders. Well, that was almost true. He still had his missions with the other members of the Rekai Tentai and those 'elders' who continued to try and ruin his future were still far below gaining any respect from the young half-demon. Otherwise his transformation was quite awe-inspiring.

During this period of transformation, he'd also changed his feelings about a certain someone. He and Kazuma Kuwabara had become the best of friends and never failed to show it. Sure, they still fought at least every other day, but it was more of a show of affection than an act of malice. But fighting wasn't the soul of their relationship. They found that they did have quite a bit in common. Yusuke, in a way, admired Kuwabara. He was far gentler than he could ever have been and his strict honor code made a person wonder how pure a soul could be. The orange haired fighter felt much the same about Yusuke, but for different reasons.

Currently Yusuke was on his way to the rooftop of the school, or ruffian's common hangout, to eat lunch with his best buddy. Yusuke climbed the last stairs before opening the door to his safe haven. The rooftop had always been a place of privacy and it still remained that way. He may have become a better student, but he could still whoop serious ass. He spotted his tall friend over in one corner of the roof next to the railing. He strolled over and sat down next to Kuwabara. No greeting was really needed between the two, for their friendship had grown that much in such a short amount of time. Kuwabara handed his dark headed friend a small boxed lunch before tearing into his own.

As Yusuke opened his own, he grinned. His favorite, fried squid and tofu. A soda was laid down next to his lunch. He grin grew wider. 'Kuwabara sure knows how to please a man', he thought. Yes, Kuwabara did cook lunch for both himself and Yusuke everyday, but it's no surprise since neither his sister nor Yusuke's mother were experts in the kitchen. If you were to tell either of the women that there was more than one brand of soy sauce they would probably have a total sensory overload.

The two best friends ate in silence for a time before Kuwabara spoke. "Yanno Urameshi, people have been spreading rumors about you", Kuwabara said gruffly. Yusuke looked up at hearing his last name. The taller boy could still not bring himself to call the other by his first name.

"So what?", Yusuke replied. "I've had more rumors spread about me in my lifetime than any pop star or super idol. So what's one more?"

Kuwabara grinned. "Yeah, I guess your right, but this isn't just about you this time. It's about you and Keiko."

Yusuke gulped down the last of his meal and took a sip of his soda. "What about me n' Keiko?"

"Well..." Kuwabara took a drink from his bottle of water and took his time swallowing. "Well, they're saying that you two are a couple."

Yusuke stared at his friend before bursting out laughing. Kuwabara looked at him incredulously before having his own small fit of laughter. They laughed together for a few moments before settling down.

Yusuke stood up and leaned against the roof railing. "So all those people down there," he pointed to the school grounds, "think me and the one girl I've known all my life are going out?" Kuwabara remained seated, but nodded. "What a bunch of bullshit. For those kids being so much smarter than me they're really stupid." Another nod. "I mean, it's not like I feel anything special for her or anything. We're good friends, that's all." Nod. "You know what I mean. She and I... well we're just like me and you." Another, more hesitant nod. Yusuke stared down at his friend, noticing the look of deep concentration on his face. He almost looked...pained.

"Well, come on Kuwa! Back to hell!" He playfully jostled the still sitting teen and began to walk towards the stairs.

"Wait, Urameshi."

Yusuke stopped and turned to face his buddy. "Look, Keiko, she's a pretty girl and I'm sure...I'm sure she really does like you." He paused and took a deep breath. "I think you should go out with her." Yusuke stared at him as though he had suggested that he start a cult and be the first one to drink the Kool-aid.

"But, Kuwabara, we're just friends man, just like you and-"

"No, you don't get it do you?" Kuwabara finally stood, his eyes not meeting his friends. "She's a girl and you're a guy, and you've known each other for forever. And your good friends! You said it yourself."

Yusuke was becoming agitated. What the hell was Kuwabara talking about? "So what if were good friends? We're f'in good friends too, but that doesn't mean I wanna date you!" He thought he saw Kuwabara flinch at that last statement. 'Must have been the wind in my eyes.'

Kuwabara sighed. "That's exactly what I'm talking about Urameshi. We can't date, 'cause we're guys yanno?" He'd finally looked up, but his eyes were closed as he smiled. "C'mon! You'll be having fun all the time 'cause it'll be like dating your best pal, but a girl! I can't find any downside to that!" He grinned goofily before walking up to the half-demon. "What do yah say?"

Yusuke looked oddly at his friend as he contemplated the good and bad aspects of dating Keiko. "I guess...sure. Why the hell not? If it doesn't work out we'll still be friends." Kuwabara clapped his friend on the shoulder as a sign of congratulations before getting him into a headlock with that same arm and dragging him, literally, kicking and screaming down the stairs.

By the end of the school day all old rumors had been dispelled and new ones were being spun as fast as one gossip could speak to another. More rumors flew telling of a furthering in Yusuke's and Keiko's non-existent relationship. The only difference between the earlier rumors that Kuwabara had revealed to Yusuke was that these actually rang true.

After lunch Yusuke had approached Keiko in the hallway and had officially asked her out, though to most that was quite a leap. The boy hadn't said more than 'I think your a cool chick' and the girl was already anticipating what she was certain would occur. He did eventually say something along the lines of 'will you go out with me?', but only after much fidgeting and floor scuffing. He would've been able to get through it a whole lot easier if Kuwabara had been there with him, but his tall friend had disappeared shortly after dragging him down the stairs.

Yusuke had little time to be worried about his friend, however, because as soon as they were officially going out Keiko took that as incentive to glomp his arm and become a near-permanent fixture for the rest of the day. To say that he was a little overwhelmed was an understatement. He hadn't exactly had an affection filled childhood and fighting was one of the few activities that he participated in that involved touching. He definitely wasn't prepared for the looks of adoration being thrown at him not only from his new girlfriend but the entire student body. It seemed that every female had learned of their current state within mere minutes and now resorted to cooing and blubbering all over the two.

"It's so great that you two are finally together!", yet another of their admirers squealed as they strolled down the hall arm in arm. Yusuke restrained himself from rolling his eyes noticing that Keiko seemed to enjoy the encouragement. She gazed up at him sending him a shy smile. He smiled timidly back.

That look. The look in her eyes was making him significantly uncomfortable. He'd never remembered Keiko looking so frightening before. 'Not that she's scary or ugly or anything', he thought to himself. 'There's just something about that look that freaks me out. Guess it's this whole dating business that's got me riled up.'

They stopped in front of the door that led to their last class of the day: Gym. This was where they'd have to split off and go about the period with members of their own sex. Keiko looked adoringly up at her boyfriend. She stood on her toes and gave him a quick peck on the mouth. It wasn't so much a kiss as it was a chaste touch of the lips, so slight, so shy. Nevertheless, Yusuke was shocked. His wide eyes followed his girlfriend as she entered the girl's locker room.

He felt awkward. Unbalanced. "I have to talk to Kuwabara", he whispered to himself. Yusuke half stumbled into the boy's locker room and walked quickly over to his locker. He bristled at the chorus of 'Ooo's' coming from his peers.

"Nice job out in the hallway Urameshi!", a half-dressed boy called out.

"Yeah," another chimed in, "maybe next time you'll kiss her too!"

The boys in the room broke out into raucous laughter at this. All except for the boy standing next to Yusuke's locker. It was Kuwabara, his dear, good friend and punching bag. His friend was looking at him, an unreadable look on his face. They stared at each other for a moment, the laughter fading to the background. Then as quickly as the moment had begun Kuwabara seemed to snap out of it and grinned slightly at Yusuke.

"You want I should go beat them up boss?", he asked in his best New Yorker accent.

Yusuke smiled at him. "Naw, I can take care of myself." They began to get dressed for class as the laughter died down, having little to no affect on Yusuke. "Hey, Kuwa..." Kuwabara paused in putting on his socks, indicating that he was listening. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Course you can. I'm your freakin' best friend right?"

"Yeah..." Yusuke hesitated. "Umm... so... If-if a friend was like, kinda gonna, umm-" He was cut off by the blowing of a whistle.

"All right ladies, and Urameshi, it's pain time!" groused out a short, but rather buff man. The boys in the locker room groaned. Kuwabara half-chuckled.

"Never calls you a lady. Not since you beat up half the class for making fun of me." Kuwabara smiled at his friend in remembrance.

"Well, they should fucking learn not to call my best buddy a pansy for liking kittens", he growled.

Kuwa's smile faltered a bit, allowing room for a more thoughtful look to cover his face. "I could've taken care of myself..." He stood. Yusuke jumped up and threw an arm around him.

"Can't let you get too ruffed up, man. You've got a future remember college-boy?" Yusuke grinned and the look was returned by his friend.

"Alright, alright. You have a point." They started walking together out to the field. "Now what did you wanna ask me about?" Their conversation was once again interrupted by the sound of a whistle.

"Oi Urameshi! Get your lady friend into gear and let's go!"

"Can I ask you later?"

"'Course. Later." He took off running around the track, Yusuke following not far behind.

Right after school, Yusuke could be seen walking to his normal afternoon meeting place, eagerly searching around for his best friend. It had been a long day to say the least with the whole girlfriend thing going on and he had a few questions that needed answers. 'It's not like I think Kuwabara's smarter then me or anything, cuz he's not. But he understands girls way better then I do.' He snorted to himself. 'I'm surprised he wasn't born a frickin' girl.' Despite his condescending thought his face lit up at the sight of Kuwabara leaning up against the side of the school building between two bushes.

Kuwabara nodded his head in greeting. Yusuke walked jauntily over to him and greeted him with a punch to the face. His tall friend dodged and took a swipe at his assailant. Yusuke managed to dodge as well by jumping back from him. They had both adopted their normal fighting stances several feet away from each other, poised for attack. Kuwabara lunged at Yusuke and Yusuke lunged at Kuwabara. Each boy had the fist of the other trapped in his grip effectively ending their short fight in a stalemate.

Yusuke smirked. "You're getting better Kuwa."

"Nah, you're just holding back your demon powers. Condescending bastard."

"Conde-whating?"

Kuwabara laughed at his friend's confusion. "Nothing, stupid," he said while ruffling the shorter boys hair.

Yusuke visibly bristled. "I can kill you yanno in front of all these cute girls!"

"That's a weak threat, Urameshi," Kuwabara said looking totally serious. "You know I only get embarrassed in front of cats." Yusuke burst out laughing at this and Kuwabara soon joined him. The girls who had been milling around were giving them strange looks.

"They're so gay," one girl with long orange hair said.

Her dark skin friend shook her head. "Can't be now cuz the black-haired one's dating that one girl."

"The one who owns the noodle shop?"

"Yep."

"Crap. He could do so much better..."

"Well I heard the tall one put him up to it..."

"Damn."

Meanwhile the boys were still messing around with each other as they did every afternoon. Both had huge grins on their faces like two little boys after they defeated the evil overlord of their imaginations. The fun was interrupted, however, by the entrance of Yusuke's brand new girlfriend.

"There you are Yusuke!" She rushed up to him and immediately latched onto his arm. Yusuke looked surprised and confused asking her 'what's up?'. "What do you mean 'what's up'? I've only been looking for you since school ended and it's almost 4 o'clock."

"Yeah I know that, still doesn't explain why you were looking for me."

Keiko's pretty face formed into a pout. "I wanted to walk home with you of course!"

Yusuke looked affronted. "But I always walk home with Kuwabara after we fight."

Keiko's face scrunched up and she was about to say something when Kuwabara spoke up. "Oi, it's okay stupid. Go with Keiko. She's your girlfriend after all." Said girlfriend's face lit up in a triumphant smile at his words.

"But Kuwa-"

"Nope. 'Sides I gotta go home early today anyways. Stuff to do." Before Yusuke could protest further, Kuwabara had already turned and begun walking away, his hand lifted in a form of 'goodbye'.

Yusuke half waved back at him. He looked down at the girl latched to his arm. Her cute face was staring back up at him eagerly, so excited. It almost reminded him of how he'd felt a few minutes ago. He shook his head. 'No, that's not right. I'm not an effin' girl whenever my buddy comes around.'

"C'mon Yusuke! I have homework and so do you so I expect us both to be doing it within the next hour!" She tugged at his arm with both hands and started half dragging him off in the direction opposite of Kuwabara's.

Yusuke eventually fell into step with his girlfriend, their hands shyly intertwined. He looked behind him, looking off into the distance. 'I always do my homework with Kuwabara...'

When the sky had begun taking on the wine colored hue of mid-evening, Kazuma Kuwabara could be found studiously working on the day's homework. His head was bent over his work and he had on a look of deep concentration. His pencil was moving steadily across the page of his latest essay for English. He frowned as he read over his last sentence. It didn't quite flow with the rest of his paper. He was about to erase it and rewrite when he felt a presence.

Kuwabara tensed up, hoping it was only a squirrel but suspecting that it was something far more dangerous. He pretended to be reading over his work, trying to act as casual as possible while extending his spirit awareness to get a better idea of just who was lurking outside of his window. 'Seems pretty powerful. Really hope I don't have to fight in my room...'

Said presence was having a bit of trouble outside of the window since it was succeeding in making enough racket to disturb the neighbors. Almost sounded as though it was trying, and rather futilely, to get from a tree one floor down to Kuwabara's apartment window. 'What could be powerful enough to raise my awareness this high but stupid enough to make that much noise?'

A set of hands appeared on his windowsill along with the top of a dark, mussed head. 'Oh. Of course.' Kuwabara smiled to himself as he got up to open the window. He looked down at his friend who was just hanging there trying to get a grip on the worn down brick of the building with his equally as worn down sneakers. "Need a hand stupid?"

Yusuke finally took notice that he'd been caught and glared up at him. "No. I just have to get my footing." Kuwabara snorted and walked away from the window.

About 7 minutes later Yusuke had finally managed to heave himself up and through the window. He lay on Kuwabara's bed, which just happened to be situated next to the window, a slight sheen of sweat across his features. "See. Didn't need your help."

Kuwabara nodded, already deep into his assignment again. Yusuke laid there, just staring at the ceiling. It was silent in the room sans the sound of pencil marking paper from the desk. It was far from being uncomfortable however. The two friends had known each other long enough to reach the point where words weren't always needed.

Another short period of time passed in which Kuwabara finished his essay and read over it, finally satisfied. He lifted his arms behind his head to stretch, a yawn escaping. He turned to his friend who was still sprawled out on his bed.

"So what're you-"

"Why did she kiss me?"

"What?", Kuwabara exclaimed, eyes wide.

Yusuke pushed himself up on his elbows but still laying back. "I wanna know why she kissed me."

Kuwabara sighed. Here we go. "I assume you're talking about Keiko."

"You assume? What the hell? Don't you just, like, 'figure' not assume?"

The orange haired teen half-glared at him. "Fine. I figure." Yusuke smirked at him. "So what is it exactly that you wanna know?"

The smirk quickly faded. "Well, she like kissed me and I dunno why. It just... doesn't make any effin sense." Kuwabara got up from the chair and walked to the bed. He shoved Yusuke over and sat down, leaning across the bed till he too was laying down.

"Well", he started, "she is your girlfriend." Yusuke beat him in the face with a pillow. Kuwabara chuckled. "Okay, okay." He closed his eyes. "She kissed you cuz she really likes you. When two people really like each other, they kiss."

Yusuke made a face despite the fact that it went unseen. "Whaddya mean 'like each other'?"

"For instance, when you we're only a tiny dumbass, your mom probably kissed you on the forehead or whatever, right?" Yusuke thought hard for a moment before he made an affirmative sound. "That's cuz she loves you dork." Yusuke burst out laughing. Kuwabara opened his eyes only to roll them. It's not that Yusuke was stupid, just idiotically naïve.

When his friend's laughter died down, Kuwabara continued, eyes closed again. "Look, Keiko's just like your mom, 'cept younger, sober, and not well-known by hookers and drag-queens. She's just expressing how much she likes you, that's all."

Yusuke nodded to himself. "Okay, I guess that makes since. I mean my mom did like miss me when I died that one time." Kuwabara smiled to himself and got more comfortable on the bed. "Does that mean I should kiss her back cuz I like her?" Kuwabara nodded. "And it's ok if mom starts up and kissing me again?" Another nod. "So shouldn't we kiss?" Kuwabara's eyes snapped open and he sat upright. He turned to look at his friend who looked every bit as serious as when he'd asked the initial question.

"Umm... Urameshi..."

"Well, Kuwa-chan?" Yusuke's eyes were now tinged with mirth as he batted his eyelashes at his friend. Kuwabara lunged at him sending him into a fit of laughter. They tumbled around on the bed in a boy-ish fashion for a bit, eventually ending in the second stalemate of the day. They lay next to each other in silence as their breathing evened out.

"Hey, Kuwa."

"Yeah?"

"Having a girlfriend kinda sucks."

Kuwabara chuckled at the childish comment. "Don't worry, it'll get better. As long as you stop being an ass."

"Takes one to know one."

"At least I don't smell like one," Kuwabara countered as he climbed off the bed.

"Hey, I smell manly! Keiko said so today!" It took a while for Kuwabara to laugh that time. Yusuke finally sat up to stare at his friend. For some reason his best buddy seemed bothered by that comment. 'Maybe he's feeling extra stupid after his homework sucked out all of his smartness. I know I do."

The tall teen was roaming around his room arranging his homework for easy pick-up the next morning and generally tidying up. 'Man he's girly', Yusuke thought. 'But his room doesn't smell like ass so I guess being girly's better then nothing.' Kuwabara picked up a random pair of boxers and sniffed them. He nodded to himself before walking out of his bedroom door.

"If you wanna stay, Urameshi, there's extra pajama's somewhere", Kuwa called from the bathroom down the hall. Yusuke heard the door shut and the shower start up. He stood up from the bed and searched around for the extra Pjs for a bit, finding them much quicker than he expected. It helped that his sleeping over had become a weekly affair at the least.

He stripped down and changed into the pajama's, which consisted of a ripped up 'Megallica' shirt and a pair of worn kitty boxers. He then sat back down on the bed to wait for his friend.

As he waited his thoughts drifted back to earlier in the day. That afternoon, Keiko had dragged him off to her parent's shop where they'd holed up in a corner of the restaurant to work on homework together. Yusuke very reluctantly so. She helped him with his math and explained the assignment for English as well as the one for Japanese. All in all the afternoon had been similar to one he could have spent with Kuwabara, minus the fighting.

It didn't get weird until Keiko had gone over to her parents and whispered something to them. Her mom had been all smiles then and brought him over a huge bowl of specialty ramen. Her dad had approached him while he was eating and gave him a pat on the back saying something about 'be nice'. Yusuke had been thoroughly confused at the time but much too hungry to really dwell on it. It struck him as weird that Keiko had been extra close to him the whole afternoon, but he figured it was just what girlfriends and boyfriends did. He'd seen it in a movie once.

Yusuke's face scrunched up at the memory. It was just too weird to be friends one day and something more the next. He had to admit that he did like the feel of someone resting against him like that. 'I figure I can do this girlfriend thing as long as we don't do too much kissing. I don't care if she likes me, it's just too weird.'

He threw himself back onto the bed. 'Maybe tomorrow will be better like Kuwa said. I hope Shizuru makes French toast.' Those were some of his final thoughts as he drifted off to sleep.

When Kuwabara came back in, fresh from his shower, he was surprised to find his friend asleep. He paused in towel drying his hair to nudge Yusuke. "Oi, Urameshi." He kicked at him. "Urameshi." He punched him in the stomach. "Dammit Urameshi!" Yusuke just rolled over and mumbled something that sounded like 'hit harder you pansy'.

Kuwabara sighed. 'Looks like I get the floor tonight.' He snagged a pillow from his bed and a spare blanket from underneath the bed to settle down on the floor. He turned off the lamp over his desk before getting down to the floor and arranging himself into a comfortable position. 'He'd better appreciate this, the bastard.' He smiled as he drifted off to sleep.

sweet Lord Jesus Christ in heaven, it takes bloody forever to format! fucking and their fucking system. dun tell me my format is gonna b preserved if it's not! tries to hang self

well if you haven't noticed,this fic will not be following right along with the yyh plot. i do pull alot of stuff from the series, but no farther then the sensui act. so umm...yes... a good chunk of this is pulled from my ass. enjoi peeps.
another note: this fic is completely finished and i'll prolly post a chapter every 3 days or so. it's not that i dun wanna post it all now, but i'm too lazy to proofread the whole damned thing. there will b 7 parts total methinks.
final note: someone draw me a picture of kuwabara and yusuke at the window. that scene makes me happy. i tried drawing this myself, but i failed. trust me i failed... >>

... review you marvelous bastards