Well, now, let's review what we have. One punk, gay, cheerful, and attracted to the new transfer student. One transfer student, perfect, stressed, and not attracted to the punk, though he can't really get rid of him. Life has such a way of conspiring. You noticed I didn't say our transfer student was straight, right? Is there a reason for that? Maybe. Am I going to expound on that right now? No, but not for the reason you may think. Our story line needs to continue. We're going to follow that transfer student for a while now.

Kurama was shaking as he slammed the door shut behind him, dropping his backpack on the floor next to him and slid down the door, tears leaking from his green eyes. He wrapped his arms around his bent legs and dropped his forehead to his knees. This was unusual for him. Normally, visits to his mother didn't cause this type of reaction. Normally, Yusuke's teasing wouldn't have caused it, either. But, both together conspired to rob our poor redhead of his control. It'd actually been a long time since he'd cried after visiting his mother.

But, life was not finished with him yet. He'd managed to get his tears back under control and was about to get up from the floor when the phone rang. Almost afraid to answer it, since it could only be the hospital or his mother's boss, Kurama made his way to the offensive device. "Hello," he said into the receiver.

"Shuichi? This is Maria, your mother's nurse. We need you to come back to the hospital."

Panic flooded the boy's features. Can't blame him, can you? There's only one reason they'd say that. "I'll be right there," he said tensely, slamming down the receiver as he turned to leave. He kicked his bag to the side and pulled open the door, barely remembering to lock it behind himself as he ran out of the apartment complex. He really didn't need anymore stress at the moment. But, as we know, life rarely gives us what we really need. He ran, quite literally, again, into Yusuke on his way out of his complex.

Shoving himself up, Kurama growled out, "Move!"

"Whoa, what's up?" Yusuke's voice was concerned again. He may have been the number one punk, but he could read people well. And Kurama was way more upset than when they'd last seen each other. "Where you going in such a hurry?"

"The hospital, and I don't have time to deal with you." Kurama had shoved himself up off the ground and was running now.

Yusuke took off after him, but not being a big track star, couldn't keep up. Not that it really mattered that he keep up, he just had to be there for the redhead. Now, why did he have that need? Well, he'd made a promise to his mother. And, well, how else would he get to know the redhead better if he wasn't there? So…noble and not so noble. Our Yusuke.

Kurama ran into his mother's ward, barely breaking stride. Maria, the nurse, caught him before he made it into his mother's room, though. He struggled, "Let me go!"

"Shuichi, the doctors are in there. You have to wait!"

He paused, "What happened?"

Maria sighed. She was a nice woman and it hurt her to have to tell this boy things that no adult should have to deal with, "She took a turn for the worse a bit after you left."

"What do you mean?" Kurama tried to steal himself to cope with anything. He'd forgotten that he still had tears on his face and his eyes were red from crying by his door earlier.

Maria didn't want to answer, but she knew she had to. "She started having trouble breathing. They're putting in a breathing tube. Oxygen wasn't enough."

Just then, a couple of people came out pushing a large contraption. Now, this item was a portable x-ray unit, but to those who don't know what it is, it's a huge box on wheels with a strange arm attached to it. This is what it was to Kurama. As much as he'd been in hospitals, he still wasn't very familiar with the equipment. The doctor came to the door just then, and Yusuke walked into the ward, panting hard from running. Kurama didn't hear this, though, he only had eyes and ears for the doctor at the moment. He stepped forward, "How is she?"

"She's stable. You can see her for a couple of minutes, but not very long. We're just waiting for the x-ray to be developed to make sure we have everything placed right."

Kurama nodded and stepped to the bedside. His mother looked worse than she had just maybe an hour earlier. From her mouth came a thick tube and there was the offensive mechanical sound of breathing done by a machine. His chest clenched hard as he bent over and whispered in her ear, "Mother, I love you. If it's time to let go, I understand. Don't stay just for me. I'll be okay if you have to leave me." His voice broke and he felt arms wrap around him. Startled he looked over to see Yusuke's profile as he, too bent over Shiori.

"Mrs. Minamino, I promised you I'd take care of him. I meant it. If you gotta go, I'll take care of him. Don't you worry. I'll see that he laughs again."

Kurama's eyes returned to his mother and he could see her relax. Or it seemed that way. It seemed as if she smiled around the tube in her mouth. Kurama brushed his fingers against her pale cheek, "I love you."

The doctor cleared his throat at the door and Yusuke looked over his shoulder. Kurama was focused on his mother and didn't really care about the doctor. He was irritated when the dark haired boy pulled him away. "We'll be on the roof, 'kay?" Yusuke told the doctor and Maria as they left, or rather as he forced Kurama to leave.

Unwillingly, Kurama went with Yusuke. Now, exactly how unwilling he was is a bit unclear. He was tense in the other's hold, but made no move to break it. He didn't want to leave, but he didn't really fight it, either. It was almost as if his brain and body were fighting each other and while that happened, he'd do whatever Yusuke made him do. When they reached the hospital roof, Yusuke hugged Kurama. It was a simple motion, just bringing up his other arm to hold the redhead, but it completely undid what little control Kurama had managed to regain on his way to the hospital. His legs collapsed under him, dragging both boys down as tears and sobs fell from the redhead. If this startled Yusuke at all, he didn't show it, only continuing to hold Kurama as the redhead allowed his pent up emotion to spill out of his body, clinging desperately to Yusuke as he did.

Now, you should be very proud of our Yusuke. He didn't even try to make a move on Kurama while he was vulnerable. Don't believe me? Yusuke's hands never strayed below Kurama's waist band, not once. Amazing, isn't it? But, then, we've also established that Yusuke isn't a complete idiot. And, he does have other places to work out his frustrations. He also was sincere in his desire to get to know the redhead, which kind of baffled him, truth be told. Remember how I said Hiei was probably his best friend, even though the term wasn't really accurate? Well, here's why it's not really accurate. They don't know a whole lot about each other. Well, Hiei doesn't really know a lot about Yusuke. Yusuke's one of those charming people who can draw out all your secrets while revealing none of his own. Is that really a bad thing? I don't know. Point was, Yusuke wanted to share himself with Kurama and it baffled him. He also knew that if he took advantage of Kurama's weakness, he'd never get the chance. So, result was, actual comfort instead of thinly veiled attempts at groping.

This was a bit lost on Kurama at the moment, though. All he knew was that he was being held and it felt good to be held, to be allowed to cry himself out while someone else held him. He hadn't had that opportunity before. Slowly, his tears abated and he sat quietly, his head resting on Yusuke's shoulder as Yusuke continued to stroke his back. It felt good, and he could feel his eyes drifting shut. Until a soft voice spoke up, "Hey, why don't we get you home before you fall asleep?"

Kurama pushed himself away from Yusuke. "I'm sorry," he murmured, brushing his hands over his face and sniffling.

Yusuke handed him a kleenex, "Don't be. It's gotta be rough trying to cope on your own."

Looking at the white paper, Kurama asked, "You carry tissues?"

Yusuke held up a box that had been on the ground behind him, "Nope, stole 'em on the way up here."

For some reason that no one could explain or understand unless you were there, Kurama started giggling. Let's blame it on stress. But, he giggled and Yusuke grinned at him. Before long, giggles turned into laughter and Kurama fell to his side, holding his stomach, rolling on the hospital roof, gales of laughter falling from him. His laughter was contagious and Yusuke felt bubbles of mirth rising in his chest, even though he didn't really understand what the redhead found so funny. It was a long time before Kurama could stop, and lay panting on the roof, looking up at the stars that were visible through the haze of light pollution. Sometime while they were up here, the sun had set. "I've missed the stars and the sunset," he murmured, one hand draped on his stomach, the other bent by his head as he gazed at the night sky.

Yusuke, sitting near him, also looked up. "It's kinda pretty."

"Yeah," Kurama sighed as he watched the sky. He felt calm, something he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Why don't we go see how your mom's doing and then get you home. You need some rest." Yusuke moved to get up, stopping when he heard the redhead's soft voice.

"Yusuke," Kurama whispered, his eyes still on the sky.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

For some reason, this made Yusuke feel very self-conscious. "Aww, don't mention it. It's what anyone should do."

Kurama grunted, not answering as he pushed himself off the roof. "Maybe, but thank you." He turned to walk through the door, Yusuke following him, feeling things that utterly confused him, if one went by his facial expression.

When they reached the ward Kurama's mother was on, Maria greeted them, "She's stable again, sleeping. You can see her for a couple of minutes, but then you need to go home. It's past visiting hours, you know."

Kurama managed a smile at the woman. She was nice. Hospital rules said she should turn him away, but she understood he needed to see his mother. Yusuke smiled as well and followed the redhead into the room.

"Mother, I love you," Kurama whispered, bending over to kiss the woman's cheek.

"Your son has a nice laugh, ma'am. I'll be sure to hear more of it and soon, I'll make sure you hear it, too." Yusuke added, also bending over to kiss Shiori. "Sleep well," he added as he straightened up and steered Kurama out of the room.

Bet you wondering what happened next, aren't you? Is Yusuke gonna try something again with Kurama? Bet your also wondering why he was there to run into in the first place. How about I let them answer those questions? I'm sure you'd rather hear it from them rather than from me, right? Okay, here we go.

They walked for a while in silence, Yusuke's arm across Kurama's shoulder. Kurama allowed this. He was very aware of it, too. It was one of those odd feelings you get when something feels good and weird at the same time, and you're not quite sure which it's more of, good or weird. He looked over at Yusuke and happened to catch Yusuke looking at him. So, he asked, "Why were you outside my apartment building?"

Yusuke shrugged, "I'm not stalking you, if that's what you're thinking. I happen to live next door to your building." Convenient, isn't it? You'd almost think I'd planned it, wouldn't you?

"Oh," Kurama answered, turning his eyes back to follow the sidewalk. His mind shot quickly along two paths that merged and diverged, like a two dimensional drawing of DNA. You know what I mean, right? Anyways, the paths his mind took were along the good feeling line, that he had a friend who lived close by, one that knew what he was coping with, and the weird line, that he had a guy who was hitting on him living close by, one that knew what he was coping with. See…they converge. It's the friend/guy hitting on him thing that Kurama just couldn't figure out. He could cope with the friend, he liked the friend thing…it'd been a long time since he'd had a friend, really. But, to be hit on by a guy…that was just weird. It hadn't happened before. Every one at his old school figured he was straight. Remember the exchange girl who gave him his nickname? Well, they dated for awhile. And, he'd had a couple other girlfriends. Nothing really serious, but, none the less, girlfriends. He'd never even looked at other guys before. But now…well, Yusuke was…well…dare he admit it…attractive. If he'd not been so emotionally drained, he would have mentally smacked himself, if not also physically, for that thought. But for now, he let it slide.

Once more, the boys stood outside Kurama's door. Once more Yusuke stopped. "Get some sleep, okay?" he murmured, rubbing his hand along Kurama's cheek.

Kurama's head tipped into the caress, "You're not going to invite yourself in?"

Yusuke stepped a little closer, wrapping his free hand around Kurama's waist. "I told you, I want to get to know you. If I come in, you're gonna hate me. Good night, sleep well, okay?" With that, he bent in and kissed Kurama. The kiss was more than chaste, but a lot less than passionate. It was compassionate, however. It's amazing how much a difference three letters can make, isn't it? Compassion allowed Kurama to respond, seeking comfort in that kiss but not feeling threatened by it. It was good, his mind decided, not weird. Yusuke pulled back, a small smile on his lips. "Good night," he said once more and left the redhead to stare after him.

A/N Again, I'd like to thank my reviewers :D I love reviews...I do I do :D They make me happy and a happy writer is a writing writer ;) Hope you enjoyed it. See you tomorrow ;)